Riot in Cell Block No. 9 Lyrics

July the second, it was nineteen sixty-three
I was servin' time for armed robbery
Four o'clock in the mornin', I was layin' back 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
Down in cell block number 9
The riot started down in cell block number 4
Spread like wild fire across the prison floor

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
Down in cell block number 9
If ya don't stop that riot, y'all gonna get the chair
I said, "Hey now 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
Down in cell block number 9
In the forty-seventh hour
The tear gas it 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
Down in cell block number 9