Lyrics:

(Originally by Grateful Dead)

On July 7th 1953
I was serving time for armed robbery
About three o'clock in the morning I was asleep in my cell
I heard a whistle blowing, and 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 trouble started in cell block number four
It spread like fire across the prison floor
I said 'OK boys, get ready to run
'Cause here comes the warden with his tommy gun'

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
So 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 twenty seventh hour, the tear gas got them in
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