Rubber Bullets

Quite.

This song is actually rather good though. The meaning is hardly discreet. Police brutality baby.

Just another tongue in cheek song from Godley and Creme. What would REALLY happen at the Jailhouse Rock? They would have to load up with rubber bullets, like at Attica.

I believe it's about a jailbreak at a prison and how the system failed the criminals leading to unfair trials and prisoner mistreatment.

Comrade_Liar has an interesting theory, though it might be a little to "meaningful" of a theory xD

I lean more in the direction of police brutality, which could cover a multitude of deeper meanings I suppose.

as hawley5150 said, this is about prison riots, such as attica. damn catchy though. and with all the trouble going on in england atm it seems apt!

It was written during times of protest e.g. the Vietnam War and the powers the police had in the USA

This song iz wicked !! I got my 14 yr old friends (who can NEEEEEEEEEEEEVER listen 2 nething other than the charts) 2 like 10cc !! Groovy !

I am increasingly convinced this song is about a gay bar being raided and societys attitude to homosexuality in general.

(Or that could be me spending too much time at this site and gradually being turned into one of those irritating fools who reads too much into everything)

It's about having a party at the county jail, where this guy spends all of his time, and a fight breaks out, the fight spreads, people are getting hurt all over the place so they send in the national guard to break it up. The narrator is very amused by all this, but not in a stuck-up or sadistic way, he just doesn't seem very bright and enjoys the commotion.