English through music · Bob Dylan · B2. Guarda il video, leggi l’analisi della canzone, poi rifletti sulle domande. Gli esempi e gli spezzoni citati sono in inglese, con traduzione.
Released in 1975, “Hurricane” is one of Bob Dylan’s most powerful protest songs. It tells the true story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a talented boxer who, Dylan believed, was wrongly sent to prison for a crime he did not commit.
The song works like a fast, dramatic film. It opens with the sound of gunshots and then follows, scene by scene, the events of a night when a shooting took place and an innocent man, in Dylan’s view, was arrested.
Dylan names people, places and moments, and drives the story forward with enormous energy, so that the listener feels the injustice as it happens.
At its heart, “Hurricane” is a song about racism and a broken justice system. Dylan argues that Carter was arrested and convicted not because of real evidence, but because he was a Black man in the wrong place at the wrong time.
By turning a real court case into a song, Dylan helped to bring huge public attention to Carter’s situation.
The song shows how music can be a form of protest and even a call for justice. It is angry, urgent and detailed, more like a piece of journalism than a love song.
Whatever the full legal truth, “Hurricane” remains a striking example of an artist using his fame to speak up for someone he believed had been treated unfairly.
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Because this song tells a story about the past, it is the perfect place to compare the Past Simple and the Past Continuous.
We use the Past Simple for completed actions, the main events of the story: The police arrived. / They arrested him. We use the Past Continuous (was/were + -ing) for an action already in progress, often the background: He was driving home when it happened.
The two often appear together: the longer action is in the Past Continuous and is interrupted by a shorter action in the Past Simple: While they were talking, the police came in. Write two sentences about last night using “was/were + -ing … when …”.
A boxer is a person who fights as a sport with their fists. To be innocent means not to be guilty of a crime. Evidence is the facts that show whether something is true.
To convict someone means to decide officially in court that they are guilty. Racism is unfair treatment of people because of their race. Injustice is a lack of fairness.
- Why do you think Dylan chose to tell a true story in a song?
- The song argues that Carter was treated unfairly because of his race; why is a fair justice system important?
- Can a song really change how people think about a real event?
- Tell a short story about something that happened to you, using the Past Simple and the Past Continuous.
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