Lyric Riot Cell Block

Riot In Cell Block #9
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