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