Cell block five, how I hate Bromide
With your coffee in the morning makes you so sterile
The corner gang never made a man of me boys

You know the walls are taller and the inmates scheme
There''s no one here that''s more than seventeen
Bet your life there''s a riot tonight in the mess hall

A letter from your home town makes you sad
You read it when the warden''s had a second laugh
He said sentimental rubbish ain''t got no place in here boy

See the years roll on by
such a senseless waste of time
What a way to reform
Call out your number
who''s a nonconformer

Shakey Brown didn''t hang around
When a Molotov didn''t do its stuff
He went back in there and said it with a sawed-off shotgun

You know Poker Sam couldn''t lose a hand
If he did you was hit by a downtown tram
Or crushed in the path of a moving elevator

See the years roll on by
such a senseless waste of time
What a way to reform
Call out your number
who''s a nonconformer

When I get out I''ll get straight
If this old world gives me half a break
But, if you see me in the corner with a chip on my shoulder
Don''t blame me