July the second, it was 1963 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 # 9 The riot started down in cell block # 4 Spread like wild fire across the prison floor Scarface 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 # 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 # 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 # 9