On July the second, 1953 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 cell block number 4 And spread like fire across the prison floor I said, "Okay boys, get ready to run Here come the warden with a tommy 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're 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