Jailhouse Rock
"/Joliet"/Jake Blues Lyrics

The warden threw a party in the county jail.
The warden organized a celebration inside the jail

The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band of inmates was present and began to play music loudly.

The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing.
The music was lively, and the place was full of energy.

You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.
The prisoners sang with enthusiasm and sounded great despite being incarcerated.

Let's rock, everybody, let's rock.
A call to action to the entire audience to feel the music and dance.

Everybody in the whole cell block Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock.
The entire group of inmates at the jail joined in the celebrations and enjoyed the music.

Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone,
One of the inmates played the tenor saxophone.

Little Joe was blowin' on the slide trombone.
Another inmate played the slide trombone.

The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
An inmate from Illinois played the drums energetically.

The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.
All the musicians played together like a well-organized band.

Number forty-seven said to number three:
One inmate numbered 47 addressed another numbered 3.

"You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see.
Inmate 47 expressed admiration for inmate 3.

I sure would be delighted with your company,
Inmate 47 invited inmate 3 to join them.

Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me."
Inmate 47 asked inmate 3 to dance with them to the music.

The sad sack was a sittin' on a block of stone Way over in the corner weepin' all alone.
There was a miserable and lonely inmate sitting on a stone in a far corner crying.

The warden said, "Hey, buddy, don't you be no square.
The warden addressed the inmate and encouraged them not to feel left out.

If you can't find a partner use a wooden chair."
The warden suggested that the inmate dance with an empty chair as their partner.

Shifty Henry said to Bugs, "For Heaven's sake,
Inmate Shifty Henry spoke to inmate Bugs asking them to make a daring attempt to escape.

No one's lookin', now's our chance to make a break."
Shifty Henry reminded Bugs that no one was supervising them and it was an opportune time to escape.

Bugsy turned to Shifty and he said, "Nix nix,
Bugsy declined the suggestion to escape with immediate enthusiasm.

I wanna stick around a while and get my kicks."
Bugsy explained that he wanted to continue to enjoy the celebrations and have fun dancing.