Песня основана на реальных фактах из жизни боксера Рубина Картера по прозвищу "УРАГАН" - главного претендента на чемпионский титул в среднем весе в июне 1966 года. После убийства трех человек в одном из баров Нью-Джерси его по ошибке обвинили в этом страшном преступлении и приговорили к трем пожизненным тюремным срокам. Прежде чем Картера все-таки оправдали и освободили (это произошло в 1985 году), ему пришлось 19 лет провести за решеткой. Добиться освобождения ему помог бруклинский темнокожий подросток Лезра, который за 25 центов купил в Торонто автобиографическую книгу Картера "Шестнадцатый раунд", написанную боксером в тюрьме, и вместе с тремя канадскими активистами организовал кампанию в поддержку Картера и доказал его невиновность.В 1993 году Всемирная Боксёрская Ассоциация (WBC) присудила Рубину Картеру "Урагану" звание Чемпиона Мира по боксу в среднем весе. До него такой чести, не удостаивался ни один боец, прекративший выступление на ринге...

Pistols shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
Cries out "My God they killed them all" [bad word] the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For something that he never done
Put him in a prison cell but one time he could-a
been
The champion of the world.

Three bodies lying there does Patty see
And another man named Bello moving around
mysteriously
"I didn't do it" he says and he throws up his
hands
"I was only robbing the register I hope you
understand
I saw them leaving" he says and he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops"
And so Patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene with their red
lights flashing
In the hot New Jersey night.

Meanwhile far away in another part of [bad word] Carter and a couple of friends are driving
around
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda sh*t was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the
road
Just like the time before and the time before
that
In Patterson that's just the way things go
If you're black you might as well not shown up on
the street
'Less you wanna draw the heat.

Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for
the corps
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out
prowling around
He said "I saw two [bad word] out they looked
like middleweights
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state
plates"
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head
Cop said "Wait a minute boys this one's not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty
men.

Four in the morning and they [bad word] in
Take him to the hospital and they bring him
upstairs
The wounded man looks up through his one dying
eye
Says "Wha'd you bring him in here for ? He ain't
the guy !"
Yes [bad word] the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For something that he never done
Put in a prison cell but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Four months later the ghettos are in [bad word] s in South America fighting for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the
robbery game
And the cops are putting the screws to him
looking for somebody to blame
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar ?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law
?"
"Think it might-a been that fighter you [bad word] that night ?"
"Don't forget that you are white".

Arthur Dexter Bradley said "I'm really not sure"
Cops said "boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and we'r