recorded by various people, including Dr. Feelgood and the Blues Brothers


December the 6th, 1953,
I was doin' time for armed robbey,
'Bout four in the morning,
I was sleepin' in my cell,
I heard a whistle blow,
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 nine.

The warden said,
"Come out with your hands up in the air,
If you don't stop this riot,
you're all gonna get the chair".
Scarface Jones said, "It's too late to quit,
And 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 nine.

The forty-second hour, the tear gas got our men,
We're all back in our cells now,
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 nine.


Transcribed by Rich Kulawiec, rsk@ecn.purdue.edu