Covid Island Discs

Day 20: Hurricane by Bob Dylan.

The third member of the Travelling Wilburys recently won a Nobel prize for literature; an unusual accolade for a rock musician. Yet Dylan is an incredible wordsmith when it comes to writing songs and this protest song about the framing of the boxer Rubin Carter for first degree murder is probably one of the best examples of his truly amazing writing talents. Eight minutes 16 seconds of pure poetry.

My favourite lines in this song are:

Meanwhile far away in another part of town, Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are driving around, the number one contender for the middle weight crown, had no idea what kind of shit was about to go down. When a cop pulls 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 your black, you might as well not show up on the street unless you want draw the heat.