Lyrics to
Jailhouse Rock

This version of Jailhouse Rock was released by John Cougar Mellencamp in 1976.

Visit the John Cougar Mellencamp Lyrics profile at Decade Lyrics - it has the Jailhouse Rock lyrics as well as the rest of the songs by John Cougar Mellencamp.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to John Cougar Mellencamp or about the 1970s in general.

The warden threw a party in the county jail.
The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band was jumpin’ down they began to swing.
You should’ve heard those jailbirds sing.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Well Spider Murphy played on the saxophone,
Little Joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone.
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Well number forty-seven said to number three:
“You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see.
I sure could enjoy some of your company,
Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me.”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Well sad sack was a sittin’ on a block of stone
When over in the corner weepin’ all alone.
The warden said, “buddy, don’t you be no square.
If you can’t find a partner use a wooden chair.”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

Well Henry said to Bugs, “For Heaven’s sake,
No one’s lookin’, now’s our chance to make a break.”
Bugsy turned to Shifty and he said, “Nix nix,
I wanna stick around a while and get my kicks.”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

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Want more lyrics and songs by John Cougar Mellencamp?

John Cougar Mellencamp has released many songs over the years besides Jailhouse Rock. John Cougar Mellencamp released songs from 1976 to 2007 spanning across albums like Chestnut Street Incident, A Biography, John Cougar, Nothin' Matters And What If It Did, American Fool, The Kid Inside, Uh-Huh, Scarecrow, The Lonesome Jubilee, Big Daddy, Whenever We Wanted, Human Wheels, Dance Naked, Mr. Happy Go Lucky, John Mellencamp, Rough Harvest, Cuttin' Heads, Trouble No More, and Freedom's Road. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by John Cougar Mellencamp.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1976 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Jailhouse Rock by John Cougar Mellencamp

The lyrics to Jailhouse Rock are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by John Cougar Mellencamp in 1976. Elements of the lyrics to Jailhouse Rock are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by John Cougar Mellencamp and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Jailhouse Rock back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to Jailhouse Rock by John Cougar Mellencamp in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Jailhouse Rock" means the words set to the music of Jailhouse Rock, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by John Cougar Mellencamp. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Jailhouse Rock and the lyrics to Jailhouse Rock are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of John Cougar Mellencamp who came here looking just for the lyrics to Jailhouse Rock, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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