The House of the Rising Sun

"The House of the Rising Sun" is a United States folk song.

Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "House of the Rising Sun," sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues", is dubious. Folklorist Alan Lomax, author of the seminal 1941 songbook Our Singing Country, wrote that the melody was taken from a traditional English ballad and the lyrics written by a pair of Kentuckians named Georgia Turner and Bert Martin. Other scholars have proposed different explanations, although Lomax's is generally considered most plausible.

In the early 20th century, the phrase "Rising Sun" may have been used as a euphemism for a brothel or house of prostitution, and it is not known whether or not the house described in the lyrics is an actual or fictitious place.

Various places in New Orleans, Louisiana have been proposed as the inspiration for the song, with varying plausibility. Only two candidates have historical documentation as using the name "Rising Sun"; both having listings in old period city directories. The first was a small short-lived hotel on Conti Street in the French Quarter in the 1820s. An excavation and document search in early 2005 found evidence (http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1110092667257220.xml) supporting this claim, including an advertisement with language that may have euphemistically indicated prostitution. The second was a late 19th century "Rising Sun Hall" in the riverfront of the uptown Carrollton neighborhood, which seems to have been a building owned and used for meetings of a Social Aid & Pleasure Club, commonly rented out for dances and functions. Definite links to gambling or prostitution, if any, are undocumented for either of these buildings, neither of which still exist.

The traditional lyrics, as recorded by Lomax, are as follows:

There is a house in New Orleans

They call the Rising Sun.

It's been the ruin of many a poor girl,

And me, O God, for one.

If I had listened what Mamma said,

I'd 'a' been at home today.

Being so young and foolish, poor boy,

Let a rambler lead me astray.

Go tell my baby sister

Never do like I have done

To shun that house in New Orleans

They call the Rising Sun.

My mother she's a tailor;

She sold those new blue jeans.

My sweetheart, he's a drunkard, Lord, Lord,

Drinks down in New Orleans.

The only thing a drunkard needs

Is a suitcase and a trunk.

The only time he's satisfied

Is when he's on a drunk.

Fills his glasses to the brim,

Passes them around

Only pleasure he gets out of life

Is hoboin' from town to town.

One foot is on the platform

And the other one on the train.

I'm going back to New Orleans

To wear that ball and chain.

Going back to New Orleans,

My race is almost run.

Going back to spend the rest of my days

Beneath that Rising Sun.

A popular version from the 1930s was recorded by Leadbelly. The best-known cover of the song is the 1964 version by The Animals, who added ambiguity to the lyrics by changing the gender of the singer.

Other artists to cover the song include Joan Baez, Willie Logan, Woody Guthrie, Zeeza, Zeeza and Snake, Walkabouts, Wally B, Waylon Jennings, Wictor Zincuk, A. Nedvetsky, Vicky Leandros, The Vivisectors, Vixen, Volker Sommerfeld, Vulki, Toto, Wadim Kosogorov, The Ventures, Steve Power, Tangerine Dream, Alger "Texas" Alexander, Tommy Emmanuel, Terry, Sister Cy, Snap On America, Spekkosaurus, Stephen Fletcher, Santa Esmeralda, Schade's Pigband, Severe Overload, Shabse, Route 66 Blues Band, Ryan Sinn, Sammy Kaye, Sandro, PokeMoons, Preacher, Ricky King, Ronnie Milsap, Paravoz, Pataky Attila, Patricia's House, Pete Seeger, Phobos 4, The Platters, The Northern Lights Orchestra, Ohzone, Other Voices, Oysterhead, The Marketts, Nina Simone, Nixer, Mark Knopfler, Leslie West, Lone Star, Los Cincos Latinos, Los Marcellos Ferial, Marianne Faithfull, The Eagles, The Kappas, Kentucky Blue, Ken Tamplin, Konec Film, Johnny Hallyday, Jen Ballute Band, The Jet Blacks, Fremont John, John 'Too Cool' McCool, Jubal Lee Young, Hank Williams, Harold Morton, Harry Barbee, James Last, Wycleff Jean et Les Portes du Pen, Geordie, George Abele, Grant Green, Goldpheet, Gray Brothers, Gypsy Planet, The Fools, Forkatie, Frijid Pink, Funky Junction, Gabriella Hanninen, Frida Boccara, FHS Marching Admirals, Fausto Papetti, Fescue, Filippo Bertacche, Doctor Watson, Doc Watson & Richard Watson, Edward Simoni, Eric Bibb & Cyndee Peters, Eric Burdon, Ever Eve, Dave Lindholm, Dave van Ronk, David Allen Coe, Desconocido, Diba, Colin Dussault's Blues Project, Complete Fools, The Country Gentlemen, Danny Johnson, Bruno Lomas, Brendan Power, Brian Robertson, Brothers Bumgarner, The Brothers Four, Bob Dylan, Blind Boys of Alabama (as ‘Amazing Grace’), Bisconti, Black Harm, B.B. King and Mary Travers, The Beatles, The Bard of Ely, Basement Rockers, The Animals, The Antics, Saanvi, Alejandra Guzman, Al Bano & Romina Power, Mission Blues Band, and the 101 Strings Orchestra.

Trivia

The house of the rising sun was the first song Tony Blair learnt to play on the guitar.nl:The House of the Rising Sun