July the second, it was nineteen sixty-three
I was servin' time for armed robbery
At four o'clock in the mornin', I was sleepin' in my cell
I heard the whistle blow then I heard somebody yell
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
Up in cell block number 9
The trouble started in the cell block number 4
And spread like wild fire across the prison floor
I said, "Okay boys, get ready to run
Here come the warden with an automatic gun"
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
Up in cell block number 9
The warden said come out with your hands up in the air
If you don't stop this riot, you all gonna get the chair
Scar-face Jones said, "It's too late to quit"
Pass the dynamite 'cause the fuse is lit
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
Up in cell block number 9
In the forty-seventh hour the tear gas got our men
We are all back in our cells but every now and then
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
There's a riot goin' on
Up in cell block number 9
