The House of the Rising Sun

"The House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song from the United States. It tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans. The most successful commercial version was recorded by the English rock group The Animals in 1964, which was a number one hit

Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun" is unknown. Alan Price of The Animals has claimed that the song was originally a sixteenth-century English folk song about a Soho brothel, and that English emigrants took the song to America where it was adapted to its later New Orleans setting. The oldest known existing recording is by Appalachian artists was made in 1933.

An interview with Eric Burdon revealed that he first heard the song in a club in Newcastle, England, where it was sung by a Northumbrian folk singer. The Animals were on tour with Chuck Berry and chose it because they wanted something distinctive to sing. This interview denies assertions that the inspiration for their arrangement came from Dylan. The band enjoyed a huge hit with the song, much to Dylan's chagrin when his version was referred to as a cover, and that Dylan stopped playing the song after The Animals' hit because fans accused Dylan of plagiarism. Dylan has said he first heard The Animals' version on his car radio and "jumped out of his car seat" because he liked it so much.

Various places in New Orleans have been proposed as the inspiration for the song. The phrase "House of the Rising Sun" is often understood as a euphemism for a brothel, but it is not known whether or not the house described in the lyrics was an actual or fictitious place. One theory speculated the song is about a daughter who killed her father, an alcoholic gambler who had beaten his wife. Therefore, the House of the Rising Sun may be a jail-house, from which one would be the first person to see the sun rise (an idea supported by the lyric mentioning "a ball and chain"). Because the song was often sung by women, another theory is that the House of the Rising Sun was where prostitutes were detained while they were treated for syphilis. Since cures with mercury were ineffective, going back was very likely.

There is a house in New Orleans Oh mother tell your children They call the Rising Sun Not to do what I have done And it's been the ruin of many a poor Spend your lives in sin and misery boy In the House of the Rising Sun And God I know I'm one Well, I got one foot on the platform My mother was a tailor The other foot on the train She sewed my new blue jeans I'm going back to New Orleans My father was a gambling man To wear that ball and chain Down in New Orleans Well, there is a house in New Orleans Now the only thing a gambler needs They call the Rising Sun Is a suitcase and trunk And it's been the ruin of many a poor And the only time he's satisfied boy Is when he's on a drunk And God I know I'm one

Bilingüal Proyect. Music Department. I.E.S. López-Neyra.