Song 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

Y'all gotta stop that stuff goin' on over there
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

Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller