Hurricane

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"Hurricane" Written by Bob Dylan co-written by Jacques Levy





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHr6fiyuJJw
This link is the music video for the song "Hurricane".



People and Events Leading to the Meaning of the Song


This song is about Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's conviction of murdering three people. This crime was committed at the Lafayette Grill in Patterson, New Jersey in 1966. During this period of time, black people were often mistreated by the law. Assumptions are made that if crimes occurred they must have been committed by a black person. Due to this fact blacks had to be very careful of where they were and what they were doing. An example of this mistreatment can be found in the following lyrics:

"Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around.
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda s*** 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 Paterson that's just the way things go.
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you wanna draw the heat."


The first two lines, indicate that even if you are nowhere around you may be in question. As the song continues, it discusses it does not matter who you are. Even if you are famous, if you are black you may be accused anyway. The last two lines, in the above lyrics, are quite convincing in the fact that if you are a black person you should not be around the crimes or you will be the one that will take the blame.

Bob Dylan was trying to protest racism and the way it was allowed to be part of the judicial system. After he read the book about Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, he developed the opinion that the conviction of this man was only based on the color of his skin, or in other words racism.

200px-Hurricane45.jpg
Bob Dylan wrote the song "Hurricane" in 1975 after reading Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's book, "The Sixteenth Round".

Past and Current History of Racism


Over the years, racism has been a part of the United States history. The conflict reached a high in the 1960s. The tension between the whites and blacks increased with a passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. The event involving Rubin "Hurricane" Carter occurred in the height of this tension. Incidents involving the question of racism within the law continue to occur until to this day. On December 4, 2006, six black students, at Jena High School in Central Louisiana, beat up one white student in a conflict after school. Originally they were charged with attempted 2nd degree murder which was pretty extreme for the event. This brought out cries of racism that these kids were being tried with more severe crimes and as adults because they were black and the crime was committed against a white person. Later, the convictions were lowered to a less degree, and they were tried as juveniles instead of adults.

Trivia


  • Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech, "I Have A Dream", during this time of Civil Rights movement.
  • Rubin "Hurricane" Carter learned to be a boxer while he was in the army.
  • In 1961, Carter became a boxing pro. He started his career with four straight wins, two of them knockouts.

Why this song?


I selected this song because I think it is interesting how this is an issue that continues over time. Many times racism is a true thing that is occurring in many different places, and is still ongoing in the United States today. I hope that this issue will be ended sometime in the near future.

Bibliography