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