What is the House of the Rising Sun?

[@Polyphonic]

What's your personal favorite version of House of the Rising Sun? Share it with us here! I'd love to hear more cool takes on the song.

[@ral3566]

The one by The Animals

[@chanople]

the one by The White Buffalo for Sons of Anarchy

[@tylerhackner9731]

The original is my fav but I love to hear different takes on it

[@yashsolanki589]

My favorite has to be the one by The Animals but the one by Joni Mitchel is a close second

[@JaytheOlivier]

Santa Esmeralda staring Leroy Gomez. Best. Version. Hands down.

[@publiusvelocitor4668]

When I lived in Japan, my Japanese coworkers always wanted me to sing this at karaoke. As a native English speaker, they liked when I sang English songs that had been popular in Japan. I eventually learned they thought the lyrics were something about Japan... the "land of the rising sun."

[@KeatingJosh]

Scrolling for this.. the old flag of Japan looked alot like a rising sun.. as im sure you are aware

[@Apost0345]

@@KeatingJosh you are talking about the imperial japanese navy "rising sun" flag. Also Japan is often called the land of the rising sun, due to it being very far east

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

@@Apost0345 I believe that's also what "Japan" and "Nippon" mean in the first place.

[@ibec69]

They made me sing the Creedence rain tune all the time and I hate that shit.

[@rainmanjr2007]

It is both, a song about pain of addictions and nickname for Japan. I understand Japan was given that nickname by China because, to see the sun rise over Japan, one would have to be in China.

[@cronkitesatellite]

The House of the Rising Sun is next door to the Hotel California.

[@johndunham9236]

and I take it they are both in the middle of our street?

[@simonmultiverse6349]

@@johndunham9236 WHAT ?!!!?!?!?! Sheer Madness!

[@djjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj]

Just down the street from a very underground and not very well known Cafe Eclectica. But don't worry, you'll see it if you're sitting on the park bench.

[@eve_squared]

Yeah, apparently they all lie on the highway to hell just a bit past the stairway to heaven.

[@cronkitesatellite]

@@eve_squared Outstanding!!!

[@yesh3279]

The version played by the Animals is one of the most iconic songs ever. The use of the organ and the time signature is simply brilliant . A haunting melody .

[@nugnorab5257]

We agree, legendary

[@Verdun16]

*”I ain’t no fortunate one”*

[@domestikgoddez9823]

@@Verdun16 CCR? "fortunate son"?

[@RandomPerson-ob1hk]

*There is a house in New Orleans, They caaaaalll the riiiisin suuun*

[@firefightszz]

It makes me feel like I’m either in a standoff in a western movie, or I’m riding down a dirt trail on my way to town in a western

[@michaeld.3779]

The Animal's version of the song is the most haunting and soul-binding. Eric Burdon's voice and intonation pulls you into verses, and mesmerizes the listener. The guitar sets the melody, but the real kicker is the organ. No other instrument could rival the choice keyboard. The organ was the icing on the cake. Just amazing.

[@clive3100]

Yep, the 'sum of the parts' of The Animals 'take'/ recording took the song to another level which is very unlikely to be bettered.

[@djquinn11]

Agreed

[@fredfarnackle5455]

Yes, that version wins, hands down. You are right, the organ gives it that... something.

[@Awimpyman69]

Or maybe it’s just the most overplayed version that everyone has heard over 1000+ times on the radio, therefore making you predisposed to being biased

[@latitude1904]

@@Awimpyman69 Nah. Many covers surpass their original takes

[@curtiswoods2239]

I always viewed " The House of the Rising Sun" as a metaphor for "addiction". A state of mind where someone is doing something that makes them feel good but is killing them.

[@dominguezvive]

Yes I heard that too!

[@myeyeswentdeaf6213]

Same here. As a long time addict myself, I think that, but I also picture it as a physical location too, like it’s called ‘The House Of The Rising Sun’ because as an myself, there’s certain houses that every time I go there, I get trapped there, using and using until the next day when I start seeing the Sun rising outside and start realizing what’a F’n addict I am how I need to stop this sh!t and get F out of there. That’s why I see it as a metaphor and also a physical building.

[@bradyweed4124]

Once I added a verse to this song as a songwriting exercise and my dad was confused. “You can’t just add a verse to House of the Rising Sun”. After seeing this video and how the song has evolved, I think it was perfectly in theme with this song’s history.

[@pinkrimmedazureeyes]

great writing exercise

[@PeterEvans_music]

It fits with folk music entirely

[@alildaisy2180]

@CHIEF I agree! If you’re comfortable of course

[@FeyPax]

You are always allowed to add whatever you like. Take it as a fellow singer and artist ;)

[@mindsigh4]

@@FeyPax hey, ur comment remindered me of Lou Reeds, SweetJane, have u heard the Cowboy Junkies cover of it? Margo Timmins added lyrics & they fit, she said that yrs later she'd heard interview where Reed says he loved her version, a cover like that tho would be tough to do right & sooo eeeasy to🔩up!

[@jgc4818]

Also, let's not forget Alan Price's wonderful contribution on the organ that made the Animals version so iconic.

[@iskandertime747]

Alan had some cool singles himself. Check out his version of "I Put A Spell On You".

[@jameshefferan773]

It's such a brilliant version. First we get the guitar, then Eric starts quietly, then the Hammond creeps in. The song keeps building, Eric gets loud and emotive, then you realise that the Hammond has also built up, and as the song fades we're left with that organ. It's just phenomenal.

[@jgc4818]

@@iskandertime747 Yeah man I love "I Put a spell on you", the solo there is insane

[@Selvikus]

@@jameshefferan773 I agree with you completely. One minor correction however, the organ in this song isn't a hammond, but rather a Vox Continental.

[@jameshefferan773]

@@Selvikus thank you for that. I always knew the machine in the video was too small, I just thought it was a prop. Never realised that Hammond wasn't the only oscillating organ. Now I have a bunch of songs I need to listen to with headphones. John played it on "Think For Yourself." I've only ever noticed the fuzz bass.

[@maicey_t.]

This song feels ancient and unknowable. I love that there's so much history behind it, because it fits the mood of the song for it to have such a winding, storied path before eventually becoming the iconic Animals version we all know.

[@toastedt140]

Reminds me of a rapper who was asked if one of his songs was real, his response was "This happens every day, in every major city, every waking second." I always felt that applied to the house of the rising sun. It's a den of inequity, and there is no shortage of them in our world today.

[@bungalorbeetle3141]

@@toastedt140 was it by any chance dance with the devil?

[@daffa1809]

it has a bit of a lovecraftian feel to it somehow

[@AmandaFromWisconsin]

@@toastedt140 I think you mean "iniquity".

[@MarcosPereiradaSilva-v5c]

Is the reality only​@@toastedt140

[@marasmusine]

That a song was said to be "too old to talk about" gave me a little Lovecraftian shudder.

[@l6318]

It's a creepy response! I shuddered too!

[@morganrobinson8042]

History is deep, and most of it nobody would ever get paid to record, and it was lost. Knowledge used to be so, so expensive to save because it was rarified. It's unusual for something undocumented so close to becoming so widespread. But this is the earliest time anybody was capable of recording or interested in academically studying American folk culture, especially black Folk Culture, its bound to serve as the onboarding to history of countless verbal traditions without determinable origin. The reasons for this obscurity are entirely human. We just forgot to remember. At least the song lasted.

[@joekrafft7125]

i feel that lol

[@simonmultiverse6349]

There was a time when I was too young to know that I was far too young to know that song.

[@celticc3003]

marasmusine………..Same 😯😯

[@FlowMichael]

IMO, I feel that this song is creepier than most people give it credit for. Especially when you get to the "I've got one foot on the platform" part, the screaming organ and the haunting chord progression is evocative of the point in most horror stories during the climax when the true horror of the situation truly dawns on the character. I feel that the house is an amorphous metaphor for human addiction, and the song is genuinely meant to be terrifying to reflect this idea.

[@davidingram1016]

I agree…..

[@cintarocko5095]

Deep 😮

[@ispeakmytruth1549]

Absolutely about addiction! I think of it as a drug den. The "ball and chain" is the addiction itself.

[@grimsladeleviathan3958]

I interpret the line "I'm going back to New Orleans, to wear that ball and chain" as the character going back to the place where their addiction began, and knowing very well that they are falling back into that dark path. Which makes it more terrifying to me. Knowing you're stepping back into the maws of hell and the line "I've got one foot on the platform, and one foot on the train" shows that they are stuck between wanting to escape it and be better, and also accepting it and willingly stepping forward.

[@shxmana]

why is it so soothing when high though?

[@trwsandford]

If I had been a bar owner in New Orleans in the 1960's I would have quietly added a patina'd wood carving of a rising sun to the exterior of the building. Then just let the rumors and legends grow themselves.

[@Drekromancer]

This comment contains mythical power. I can already hear the stories forming around it.

[@witherblaze]

@@Drekromancer Then write them.

[@witherblaze]

@Arthur Morgan Well write it.

[@witherblaze]

@Arthur Morgan I was thinking in terms of writing legends of events that would happen if someone made a wood carving of a rising sun for that bar,

[@Gremllion]

Trwsandford we had a bar called the rising Sun many years after the real one in the late sixties and early seventies and it was full of an assortment of people hippies old beatniks and other types of younger people and we had a ball. I was in my teens in 20s and this was in the late sixties early seventies and it was the bomb

[@erinmalone2669]

The first time I heard those opening notes when I was a teenager I was blown away. That intro is absolutely masterful and moving.

[@ramifishpoker]

I watched it in casino for the first time and was blown away too!! I was a teenager too. Had to stop and repeat it even though it was the climax of the movie 😂

[@elgritton]

This is what music progression is, a version of one after the other. Modern copyright claims ruined this epic practice that could withstand for decades.

[@alexf0723]

Metallica killed it for everyone

[@chancekahle2214]

All human knowledge and culture operate that way. "Intellectual property" is wholly illegitimate, and serves only to enrich those already wealthy.

[@xxEzraBxxx]

@@alexf0723 Wasn't just Metallica that had the ordeal, the music business and record labels have been fighting against this for as long as pop has existed

[@InventorZahran]

I hope the Creative Commons licenses become more widely used, as they offer far more flexibility than traditional copyright systems. Artists and other creators can choose from a selection of licenses that bridge the spectrum between copyright (creator has absolute control over their works) and the public domain (creator has no control over their works). For example, if I write a song and I want other singers to be able to record their own versions of it, there's a Creative Commons license that allows derivatives as long as the cover artist or remixer gives credit to the original creator. The world of Creative Commons licensing is complex and I vastly oversimplified it , but I believe it has great potential to bring back at least some of the sharing and reinterpretation that made the folk traditions of the past possible.

[@timewave02012]

@@alexf0723 If you're looking for someone to blame, it was more Sonny Bono and Disney than Metallica.

[@masicbemester]

"The meaning of the House of the Rising Sun is always the same: It's a place of vice, a place of darkness and foreboding, and a place that one desperately wants to avoid, yet is constantly drawn back to." so, the internet? Maybe not all of it, but I feel like there's a pattern here. Like, a chunk of the internet is essentially the House of the Rising Sun.

[@masicbemester]

what if Welcome To The Internet ties into this in a way?

[@gardenboydon]

Brilliant interpretation. It makes a lot of sense

[@zhuofanzhang9974]

Maybe it's like a trope, or an archetype, that could summarize a lot of things in human culture.

[@stopthecap3768]

For me it’s interprets Twitter. That hell hole is awful

[@masicbemester]

@@stopthecap3768 ♪There's a place on the internet I call the Rising Sun♪

[@rocknrollmandolin]

I really like Tom Ashleys version. Something about the way he says "its too old to talk about" sends chills down my spine.

[@spinozatheobvious626]

It's a beautiful line right? Almost Lovecraftian in its horror, like "don't ask about this, there's secrets bigger than us".

[@jsmarch9022]

yess also the minor key he uses to sing "they call the rising sun" is very ominous, I think it sounds better that way

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

I like the version by The Ghost of Johnny Cash.

[@crinklecut6798]

It makes it feel like some primordial thing, not just a song, but something that already lived within those that sang it

[@All-ze9cl]

I think the song sounds best when its sung in a more haunting and dark way.

[@vdussaut9182]

The Animals’ choice of the organ to drive the song to its crescendo was absolute brilliance-it’s reminiscent of a church organ and what gives the song such a powerful spiritual overtone.

[@camrynhamme]

So Georgia Turner is actually my great grandmother and as for her recording the song she sold her rights to her recording and version of it for around 17$ at the time, at the time my great grandmother had around 10+ kids using her money to afford to be able to feed them. Chasing the rising sun is a fantastic novel that covers her life and her story in relation to the rising sun.

[@lmnop29]

that's so neat!!

[@hijodelaisla275]

"actually"

[@joeydurant6267]

Where are you from? I've heard the turners and Taylor's name connected to this song around Monroe mi.

[@theabristlebroom4378]

Thank you for sharing!

[@camrynhamme]

@@joeydurant6267 My grandpa is originally from Michigan

[@e_dharmalog]

One thing about the Animals' version that is never talked about is the drumming. He leans on the ride cymbal for the entire song. There is no snare backbeat. Any rock drummer would have thrown in an accented snare hit every other beat. Every time I hear this song I listen for that snare. But the Animals' drummer was so restrained. The only other song I can think of that avoids a backbeat where the ear wants to hear one is "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B. King.

[@JaneDoe-ij4ls]

Thank you, this was interesting

[@cynthiamarston2208]

Will go listen! Thanks

[@DagaanGalakticos]

Interesting drumming observation.

[@staceymoore779]

Excellent comment

[@jameshenrysmith8426]

It was in the Hell's language. The fire on the mountain where the Devil is signalled the Devil was planning Korea. It was them telling their plans for Kpop and their work in surrounding Asian countries. These songs say the people are trapped pretending to be whores while the demons mind control the men till they die and feel drunk.

[@jacpod2046]

I think The Animals’ version always be my favourite, partly because it has one of my favourite vocal performances ever, but a close second is alt-J’s version.

[@hcildwold1751]

I found alt-j's version to be all over the place and not making it feel the original meaning

[@stephens1392]

The Animals version is the best but the version by the Frijid Pink comes a close second.

[@APDS-Akin]

I thought 'The animals' were the only ones who sang it 'til recently

[@bombercountyblues]

@@APDS-Akin nobody owns the writing credits.. making it one of the most covered sings out there..

[@glas_tea]

@@stephens1392 I only knew of The Animal's and The Adolescents House of the Rising Sun

[@donnahilton471]

My grandfather played it on the violin. He was born in 1882.

[@filmfreak5856]

so cool man

[@viannezae658]

HAHHA RIP Grandfather

[@noahlombardi4475]

Wow very enlightening.

[@mementomori4817]

Thats cool!

[@spiralsage]

Damn bro you must be a dino

[@DeepFriedHallelujah]

As a folk singer, I’m thrilled to see Ronk credited for the chord progression Dylan popularized. This was incredibly well researched and executed.

[@banjoist123]

Ronk doesn't get anywhere near the recognition he deserves.

[@ChemySh]

man, I only started getting into folk music (and Ronk too, by extension) after watching Llewyn Davis. That film made me more aware that folk songs (and all other genres too, but folk/"indie" especially) carries with it the theme of daily struggles (the slow banal kind we don't realize until our midlife crises, as opposed to the short intense one like heartbreak), and most importantly the dignified acceptance of said struggle. As an ex-filmmaker, imo it's such a great music genre that meshes well with daily-life dramas. Hopefully more and more filmmakers realize its potential.

[@Vulturefist]

As a Swede I can’t help to think that ol’ Eddie Meduza would have found it funny to hear about a dude called ”Ronk”. 😁

[@damnyankeesdaughter5427]

Dylan just released a new song “license to kill”

[@robertsullivan4773]

Always liked the Animal's version. But to be honest never knew how deep in the past the song is rooted. Thanks to this excellent video I'll never think of the song the same way again. But think of the many possibilities as to what it truly means. In the end as you said it means many things to all of us and to all of us those things are something to be avoided or we should lose our very soul.

[@williamwright6450]

Get out my head

[@bennieknape4857]

Its a prison out in the swamp has no fence,and one road in and out..20 to 30 miles of swamp in every direction

[@xpendabull]

I always interpreted the House of the Rising Sun to be a brothel, and the singers father was a rambling man and gambler. The mother doesn’t teach her son the right path and grows up to become just like his father, and the whole cycle begins anew. I also have always viewed the organ as a religious instrument since you see them in churches so much and it’s music is used to cleanse one of sin. However in this case the House is a place to worship sin, so to speak, so hearing an organ be used in such a way makes it that much more interesting and captivating.

[@sirvilhelmofyonderland]

The House of the Rising Sun is an opium den. I thought everyone knew this.

[@joeyank2451]

Exactly That’s How I Seen It To

[@SB-Kiwi]

Also what I was told it was. Sounds right to me.

[@Bella-fz9fy]

There are quite a few pubs that were also brothels in the old days,called The Rising Sun in England.There are a few old folk songs mentioning The Rising Sun and it being synonymous with a brothel.There was also an old folk song from Norfolk,where there is an old Rising Sun pub with the words ‘If you go to Lowestoft and ask for The Rising Sun,there are two old whores there,and my old woman’s one.’

[@PanicGiraffe]

I think it's a crack house.

[@metoo1510]

I love your research. Licensed new Orleans historian here, specifically French quarter and garden district as well as a specialty on Metairie cemetery which is the 1st sign you're heading into the city. So I'll begin by admitting I'm biased. The house of the rising sun was a brothel. Originally it was a convent for the urseline nuns but when they upgraded they no longer had a need for it so sold it to a Madame. She was notorious for being good to her girls, and supposedly wouldn't hesitate to unalive an abusive john and bury them in the court yard. We acknowledge this could be myth because new Orleans is a place where myth and reality are constantly getting melted into each other, but we will spend all night arguing with the guy on the barstool next to us if they they try to take it from us

[@als4817]

Thank you for posting !

[@christophersanders5007]

I lived in the French Quarter back in the 70's. There was a building close to the cemeteries in Ward 5 area that was considered The House of the Rising Sun. It had been recently closed down and boarded up. It was a house that was over 100-years old. It was also close the the old slave quarters, which was fenced off, but still standing at that time.

[@Ailurophile1984]

I don’t believe it because why in the world would nuns sell their old convent to a madame? Unless they’re just terrible nuns

[@blanket4763]

I live here too, I’d heard that story but never in connection to the song

[@CoasterMan13Official]

That is an interesting perspective on that, and it makes a lot of sense.

[@d_ruggs]

wow, had no idea the song was so old. the animals really did take the best of all the previous versions though and make a perfect pop song for the time. Its also really cool thinking that this is the song that convinced Dylan to go electric

[@ofirbun]

The Animals version is so nostalgic for me But the Dylan version is definitely my favorite, his emotion in the song is just so fantastic, he's just such a good storyteller with his music

[@ricimercury9490]

Too bad he kinda bamboozled his pal Dave Van Ronk

[@512TheWolf512]

this story shows just HOW IMPORTANT returning creative works into public domain is

[@Nono-hk3is]

Hell yeah. We must not allow corporate ownership of popular culture.

[@dubsy1026]

"There will never be a house in New Orleans" "There is A house In New Orleans" *Spits out breakfast*

[@chrispambo1539]

*Visible confusion*

[@lasseheller9863]

@K M Yes, and it's beautiful.

[@classic_jam]

My house in New Orleans: crumbles into the void

[@InventorZahran]

@K M There is a year in history, They call Two-Thousand Ten, It's been the source of great memories, Of a simpler time back then...

[@funnycatgaming8506]

@K M old memes are getting a revival

[@Actalzy]

I always took it to be a metaphor for addiction basically. Whether it be drinking, gambling, sex, whatever your poison depending on the singer. And no matter how hard they try to fight the addiction or how bad they know it is for them, they always get drawn back to it. The other version, generally from a female perspective, feels more like how the addiction of a loved one, the husband usually, affects them or the people in there life. That was always my take on the song anyway.

[@liamfiner7964]

Yeah I always assumed it was like Hotel California

[@simonmultiverse6349]

I heard someone say that Hotel California was the House of The Rising Sun of the West Coast.

[@Rammkommando]

my grandpa always thought it was a brothel or a place where folks are held against their will

[@Inertia888]

Any time I am playing and singing it, I am always tapping into the pain that past addiction has caused me and my loved ones.

[@89128]

To me the House is an Opium Den. Rising Sun rises in the east, the origin of opium.

[@suzannebrown2505]

To me, an old Baby Boomer at 75, it’s the music that has a most amazing resonance and haunting quality that draws me to the music. Whether I’m sitting and listening to it (and humming along), or playing it and singing on my piano, it has this profound effect on my soul that seems to call to me to “take it in”, almost like a drug.

[@suzannebrown2505]

My favorite version of the House of the Rising Sun are the Animal’s rendition of the song.

[@buffering5351]

Animals version my favorite all time song

[@d_the_great]

Gen Z here, and God do I love those kind of haunting songs. There's Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins, and Dream by Imagine Dragons to name a few.

[@C.dieslevonankwek7]

You still bangin on the ivory at 75? That's awesome to hear, I'm 41 and play guitar I just hope my knuckles hang on for that long, take care

[@michaeldeignan7922]

and God,I know I'm one

[@beyondobscure]

It's incredible to think about how many songs are out there just like this, waiting for a popular artist to cover it, unearthing centuries of historical backstory.

[@breadO0]

I recommend checking out "The Longest Johns". They sing shanties and folklore and it's so beautiful. Almost all of their songs have some sort of historic origin.

[@kingstrojek9937]

I’m curious if In the pines or 16 tons have such history

[@pricklypear7516]

Nick Cave's Murder Ballads.

[@beyondobscure]

@@pricklypear7516 ?

[@beyondobscure]

@@pricklypear7516 what

[@DesertRat332]

I first started on guitar back in the mid 60s. Before "Stairway" came along, every aspiring young guitarist had to know how to play The Animals' version of "House of the Rising Sun". 😀

[@christinagiagni3578]

so true. i think it was the first song i learned to play at 12.

[@JaneDoe-ij4ls]

Yep, me too!!!! That was the first song I learned to play on guitar!

[@jameshenrysmith8426]

It was in the Hell's language. The fire on the mountain where the Devil is signalled the Devil was planning Korea. It was them telling their plans for Kpop and their work in surrounding Asian countries. These songs say the people are trapped pretending to be whores while the demons mind control the men till they die and feel drunk.

[@WinkLinkletter]

And then Smoke on the Water was released and everyone could hit a heavy lick right off!

[@drothberg3]

Same here.

[@javigd96]

I really liked Nina Simone's second version. I never heard it before, but well it's Nina Simone, it's not a surprise it's amazing.

[@l6318]

I think it's my favorite. I love how urgent and distressed it sounds. Nina was a genius!

[@jahchildmel6960]

@@l6318 Fuck Nina Simone!!!!! Eric Burdon And The Animals version tops them ALL

[@discotequilasunset]

@@jahchildmel6960 relax

[@l6318]

@@jahchildmel6960 Who pissed in your cornflakes?

[@jaysea5939]

I'd never heard the first version!

[@MichelleCWeber]

My dad was a South Eastern Kentucky man born in 1936. He loved this song and always played and sang it differently than the Animals. He always said it was about a prison. It’s another one of the mystique.

[@lazydroidproductions1087]

Honestly, I think that no matter which version is being song, it is about a prison, just sometimes a more literal prison than other times. One cannot simply escape the house of the rising Sun. It is an end of the road to doom, wherever that road may have come from and however many times you may walk it.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@Michelle Campbell he may have been thinking of Midnight Special.

[@CatchThesePaws]

Man, the house of the rising sun would make for an awesome staple of a dnd campaign. Campaigns tend to have a place like a tavern where the adventure starts and where the party returns to often. It would be the coolest thing ever to play a western style game with the rising sun at its narrative center!

[@jamesflames6987]

I once ended up in the Hotel California in a DnD campaign.

[@thebrewmaster66kyle9]

I’m actually incorporating it into a larger campaign, I’m really excited for it!

[@andygravelle2202]

You could try a more mystery themed one shot and have the house of the rising sun be the focus

[@lclfav2]

Nerds

[@TabbyeLynne]

You can make it so it changes ever so slightly every time they visit it as a nod to the fact that we don't know for sure what kind of place it was in reality

[@JenDoe1]

I was talking to my Mom about this song; she told me that she lived in a house in England called the Rising Sun. Sure enough, she did! Edit: she’s just told me that the house was previously a pub called the House of the Rising Sun! The Animals Ed Sullivan live version is the greatest version IMO! Uploaded to my account but blocked in the US. Brilliant video!

[@magtak]

Is it in Reading?

[@CorbCorbin]

Is she 200 years old?

[@yasuke9317]

@@CorbCorbin And US born and raised? Black?🤣. People think the Animals wrote this song. That's hilarious.

[@followtheboat]

The Rising Sun is not an uncommon name for pubs in the UK. Had one in my home town until fairly recently (sadly converted to flats, of course).

[@petert.webster9164]

I knew a pub in Bilston just out side of Wolverhampton called The Rising Sun, that was back in the late 1960's early 1970's.

[@20firebird]

in the modern world of standardization and mass communication, we tend to think of songs as having single, definitive versions. i'm glad i watched this video, because it was both a fascinating trip through history and reminded me that songs have historically been alive and evolving.

[@CharFil]

I feel the house is an embodiment of Vice itself, perfectly incapsulating and connecting with every individual on earth. One of my top 10 songs of all times.

[@jerryshunk7152]

I agree with you. As is the 'MAN,' in CCR'S ; Born on the Bayou ! AKA the Devil & his place in both songs !

[@powellmountainmike8853]

When I was in college on the G.I. Bill back in the early 1970s, I became very good friends with one of the young professors. We shared a number of interests, as well as a classical education, we both had studied Latin and ancient Greek, and had read a great deal of ancient literature in the original. He was from New Orleans, from an old New Orleans family. He told me that The House Of The Rising Sun was actually an opium den down in the Storyville section of the city back in the late 1800s and up to the First World War when Storyville, the notorious "red light district" of the city, was shut down.

[@teresagardner3774]

I have heard this too. Thanks for the confirmation. I have never been to New Orleans but it's this song that makes me want to visit.

[@thomasgross8289]

You know there never was old new Orleans families right? New Orleans is and always was a ses pool, litterly built on a slight rise in the atchafalaya basin between two forks of the Mississippi. Was a shanty town built so the plantations crops of cotton, sugarcane, and rice, could be floated down on the Mississippi, mermatau and red river's consolidated there loaded onto barges and took out to the gulf where the big boats waited. The creole, cajuns and French Canadian convicts lived in New awlins. The old families, the money back from Europe money, were up in central and north Louisiana...think Nacogdoches the first city in da Louisiana territory, almost twice as old as America. It sat on a much more important point for many years, until the Mississippi was tamed, the old Spanish trail that stretched from California to Florida. The coast lands, a hundred, hundred and fifty miles or so was settled by the po folk, because every 5-8 years a hurricane would blow in and wipe out whole ass settlements, with very little warning time...didn't have doplar radar, radios, TVs like now. Bluebird skies at 10am by 3PM dark ass midnight, 180mph winds blowing off the gulf for 300-400 miles wide,sometimes bigger for a day, day and a half. Often by the time the storm died whole settlements would be gone with little or no sign that they were even there lol. Why you think us coonass', thats cajuns to y'all are so mean? That's the weather we shrimp in lol

[@powellmountainmike8853]

@@thomasgross8289 Well, the family I refer to is in the records of New Orleans dating back to the mid 1800s, so I would say that is old enough.

[@thomasgross8289]

@@powellmountainmike8853 maybe I didn't explain myself well, people lived there of course, I meant the wealthy

[@jameshenrysmith8426]

It was in the Hell's language. The fire on the mountain where the Devil is signalled the Devil was planning Korea. It was them telling their plans for Kpop and their work in surrounding Asian countries. These songs say the people are trapped pretending to be whores while the demons mind control the men till they die and feel drunk.

[@SALTYDEPLORABLEGARBAGE]

Well, my former brother in law really loved this song and I believe he (for him) was about (his) addictions. "Ball and chain" was symbol of being entrapped to his addiction. He ultimately had a friend play their version of this at his funeral. Dead from his addiction. Plus he made frequent trips to New Orleans indulging in his addictions at every turn. He loved that city as many do.

[@SALTYDEPLORABLEGARBAGE]

@James Henry Smith I agree, Sir.

[@Cheers_Warren]

A different take is that the ball and chain refers to a "wife". It's from London rhyming slang

[@SALTYDEPLORABLEGARBAGE]

@@Cheers_Warren Oh yeah, that is a name for that 😁

[@paulakpacente]

Sad. May he RIP.

[@paulakpacente]

@James Henry Smith- No one knows...

[@kijekuyo9494]

When I was young, I only knew the song from The Animals, and I assumed it was a brothel. When I later heard versions by female singers speaking as the protagonist, I thought the brothel idea was perfect for them as well. The ball and chain works so much better as a metaphor than a literal prisoner's shackles, so I would never attribute it as a prison. Nothing has ever eclipsed the version by The Animals. It sets the mood so much better than any other version I've heard. I also like Joan Baez's version.

[@moragmckay7673]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2m4lqJtp5ehmKM Funnily, Joan Baez sings as a man, but Josh White here sings as a woman. For sheer Southern weariness, though, I think he nails it. (I love your faves as well and even Frijid Pink).

[@kijekuyo9494]

@@moragmckay7673 Thanks for the link. I like White's choice of words "Please, shun that house in New Orleans."

[@michaelsalcido3736]

I loved the summary at the end in how you describe what “The House” is metaphorically, and how it (The House) represents one’s vice calling oneself back to it, yet knowing it will lead to one’s demise.

[@oranjmusemeyer968]

Awesome dive into the history of The House of The Rising Sun... my mother was from New Orleans and she always said it was a brothel, and it was started by a madame that migrated to Lousiana when it was settled by the French. Her brothel in France apparently operated under the same name so it would be familiar to the French men that had freshly sailed to America. But, who knows.

[@kgrimes4934]

Yup, lived in New Orleans for almost 6 yrs. This was the history of song for the locals. Also in later years girls were brought there with false promises through ads, traveled far to get there for work and a new life. Taking a huge risk for a better and maybe easier life. They were given room & board for a fix price, quickly in debt and forced to pay it off through prostitution. IThis was pretty much the model most brothels in Storyville used. Insane part is reading abt Storyville & learning how the cops supported the madams and returned runaways.

[@danherrick5785]

@@kgrimes4934 Truth!!!

[@edwardbeaty8899]

Kind of like the 'Model Scam' that has lured American women into doing overseas modeling, only to be forced into prostitution when they get there.

[@Scornfull]

@@edwardbeaty8899 seems to happen a lot in Japan as well

[@edwardbeaty8899]

@@Scornfull Another thing in Japan is the 'Girl Group/Singer' scam. Girls are offered wealth and fame, they get the fame, but the agents and others take the wealth.

[@luisturci]

What a fantastic job you make with these videos. The art, the research and the narrative are gold. Thank you so much!

[@ryanbennett498]

The unfortunate rake is the forefather of so many American standards. It evolved into Saint James Infirmary ( popularized by Louis Armstrong) and the streets of loredo ( popularized by Johnny Cash ). For an old British (debatably Irish) song it’s American legacy is massive

[@Udontkno7]

wayfaring stranger is another great unfortunate rake song

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

I didn't realize that's where St James Infirmary came from, have a few versions of that song that I adore

[@jimmybryan6760]

The streets of Laredo was popularized by Marty Robbins

[@danielharris9403]

Minnie the Moocher *and* Willie the Weeper

[@bryanrhodes369]

OK I felt much better after reading this comment.

[@perrylc8812]

The Animals version got me hook line & sinker the 1st time I heard it. It still gets me some 50 years later.

[@HanzsKlopek]

My father taught me how to play this song on guitare. Always been obsessed with it. I'm glad Scorsese used it at the end of Casino.

[@ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Maybe this is why I always thought the House of the Rising Sun was a casino...

[@perryreese2696]

@@ExileOnDaytonStreet lol !

[@ryanfrancis827]

But he clearly didn’t teach you how to spell

[@HanzsKlopek]

@@ryanfrancis827 English is not my first langage. Where did I make an error ?

[@stopthecap3768]

@@HanzsKlopek you misspelled guitar. The dude who replied is an asshole. Cheers m8

[@chrisrosenkreuz23]

An interesting tidbit: in Egyptian mythology the sun god had four aspects, each represented as 'houses', with each house corresponging to a part of the day taking on that aspect's characteristics. Kheper-Ra was the sun of the morning (hehe), the term literally meaning "to come into existence"/"to change"/"to happen". Egyptians believed that the dead were reborn again in the after-life each day with the rising sun. This version or alter-ego was named as Khepri.

[@sammy13ificationable]

I think the House of the Rising Sun is a metaphor for the singers addictions, illnesses, and sorrows, a window into the singer's lowest point in their past

[@LeonaRasalas]

I was 12 years old when this song came out, by the Animals. One night, I stayed over with a girlfriend who lived way out in the country, in a huge old country house. The nearest next house was a mile away. Late that evening the house we were in caught fire. Her parents, brother, me and her, and their dog got out just in time. We drove down to the nearest house to call the fire department. We ended up staying the rest of that night at the neighbors house. The next morning when I looked toward the burning house, I could still see lots of smoke. The sun was rising in the background and this song was playing on the radio in the kitchen. Every time I hear this song, even 59 years later, it reminds me of that house and how the family lost all their belongings.

[@eliora6429]

This is so incredibly chilling

[@jennifursun3303]

oh wow what a sad memory I;m so glad you all got out ok

[@rosesilveira344]

In an interview Eric Burton stated he came across it when he heard Lead Belly sing it. The Beatles, Led Zepplin,Rolling Stones & other artists were fans of Lead Belly.

[@scadoodlemusic3682]

One thing I always find fun about this is some of the old men at my church had a blues band and I played guitar with them often. They would perform amazing grace using the chord progression of the animals version of house of the rising sun. One time I filled in guitar for a local southern Presbyterian church and we were rehearsing amazing grace and I showed them how I played it using the chords for rising sun. To keep a long story short the pastor there was not a fan of me using the music for secular song about a brothel/gambling house for a church song lol

[@KaenRas]

I wonder if he was aware that many hymns we sing today were originally religious lyrics set to old pub/bar songs.

[@Teverell]

The founder of the Salvation Army used a lot of the popular tunes of his day for the basis for hymns. As he said, Why should the Devil have all the best music?

[@jguenther3049]

The musicians at my church sometimes sing Communist John Lennon's "Imagine," about as anti-religion as it gets. I find it irritating in any setting, 10X worse in a church.

[@magnificenthonky]

Amazing Grace, set to the tune of Rising Sun, sounds amazing. The lyrics fit the music perfectly. I've long been aware of that, and I've done it myself. I can't recall how I found out about that.

[@magnificenthonky]

@@jguenther3049 Blah. Setting a hymn to secular music is one thing, and a thing to which I am generally unopposed. But, singing Imagine during a Church service (well, I guess, if the Church is Unitarian Universalist, maybe it makes sense...) just strikes me as disrespectful, and counterintuitive. Maybe it's time to find a new Church. I felt compelled to find a new Church, after listening to the Senior Pastor preach from the book of Carly Simon, and the Associate Pastor hit on me afterwards. That was more than 20 years ago, and I've not attended a service there, since.

[@originalsusser]

What resonates so hard with me is your deep meaningful take on any subject you choose to investigate. This song has always been to me a meaningful contribution to popular culture in all its interations ever since I heard it for the first time but you have really delved deeply into its origins & given me an opportunity to look at it from perspectives I couldn't have known before, thanks

[@tikkidee5058]

I like the conclusion drawn by this video. The House of the Rising Sun means different things to different people and that's all that matters at the end of the day. I watched a video "the most misunderstood songs" which deals with the "real" meanings or topics of songs. Right or wrong it basically tries to ensure that the actual meaning of the song is understood and not what is perceived and I couldn't help thinking "Why would that matter?". Everyone has events in their lives and often there is a song playing at the time or the mood of the song reminds them of that song. So, at the end of the day every song means something different to every person and while the artist may have intended otherwise it really comes down to what it means to you. Isn't that what music is about? B.t.w. I do believe that the version by the Animals is the best version ever!:)

[@paulzammataro7185]

Someone that I used to hang with once said to me "Perception is reality"., and me, being an idiot, replied "No it isn't, reality is reality". As I was drifting off to sleep that night , I had a thought that made me 😮 - and I said out loud "Holy 💩, he's right"! The thought was that 3 people witness a hit and run car accident, and the police wind up with 3 different versions of the accident, and/or 3 different descriptions of the car that caused the accident. But being almost asleep and then realizing that, it felt more like 😱.

[@aldopro23rex]

Maybe the real Rising Sun were the friends we made along the way

[@thistlethrook2778]

Prolly Fren.

[@steampnk9896]

Nah. The real rising sun was the innocence we managed to loose somewhere along the way.

[@rubberduck8631]

Yes, all my friends are houses

[@thistlethrook2778]

@@rubberduck8631 lucky you all mine are warehouses the have forklifts driving in and out their bays all day.

[@rubberduck8631]

@@thistlethrook2778i feel so bad!

[@WJKPhD]

The most accurate, well informed, history of this song I've seen online. Good job!

[@jameshenrysmith8426]

It was in the Hell's language. The fire on the mountain where the Devil is signalled the Devil was planning Korea. It was them telling their plans for Kpop and their work in surrounding Asian countries. These songs say the people are trapped pretending to be whores while the demons mind control the men till they die and feel drunk.

[@TheMakersRage]

Alan Lomax should be in the Rock n Roll hall of fame. And the fact he's not reflects that they don't look broadly enough on who beyond musicians have made the greatest contributions to rock culture

[@mikkibarker8671]

A gay brothel.

[@dungeonsanddragonsanddrive2902]

I love how varied the lyrics and themes are. This song has united thousands to millions in its history. We’ll never even know how many versions there were. That’s so fucking cool

[@dbhcvi]

French people know this song as "Les portes du pénitencier", as sung by Johnny Hallyday in 1964. French artists used to copy-paste US song with french lyrics back in the day. In this one, a man is about to go in prison for a life sentence and is thinking back of what led him to this fate.

[@Mitchyzdaboss]

Rest in peace to that incredible artist!

[@garryiglesias4074]

Il a pompé la version des Animals (UK)... Pas "copié collé" la version US. Enfin c'est même pas lui qui a traduit ou arrangé, il a interprété une pale copie dont on aurait pu se passer.

[@johnpaulcross424]

That haunting guitar line just perfectly sets the mood for the song, cannot express how happy I am that you decided to cover it.

[@whatabouttheearth]

It fulfilled it's potential by turning into Danse Macabre with those slurred arpeggios

[@punkly8423]

Leadbelly's "New Orleans" is my absolute favorite version

[@l6318]

There are a lot of songs for me that fall into the category: Leadbelly's Version Is My Favorite!

[@marciashiraishi5891]

OMG I love this song and I prefer The Animals version. I'm Japanese, when I was a kid I used to talk to my dad in English and I was intrigued by the lyrics of this song because I associated it with Japan (the Land of the Rising Sun). My dad lived in London but he didn't know the long history of this beautiful song... later I understood that there was no reference to my country, I thought of things like “a gambling house or a brothel, in short, something that ruined the life of a poor man and take him to prison”…thanks for this “lesson” on this iconic song, I will share it with my dad 😊

[@davidbrighty1369]

I never realised that this song had such a rich history or was so widely covered. Excellent, short, authoritative documentary! 5*

[@Exiled_Rouge]

The Animals are one of my favorite bands and perhaps the most underrated of their era. Absolutely brilliant music. Consistently too.

[@steveperry1344]

they really did some great blues covers and introduced them to us white american kids.

[@brucegibbins3792]

This song as recorded by The Animals personally defines the 1960s. The chord progression, once learned, is a gateway to a large repertoire of songs to play and enjoy. As released in 1964, House Of The Rising Sun, not only provided listening pleasure but hours of coffee shop conversation trying to figure out the meaning the lyrics presented. Nobody seemed to know for sure, but the song was hugely popular at the time anyway.

[@Doughy_in_the_Middle]

I once pulled this into my D&D campaign. I had a character who'd previously sung "The Hanging Tree" next to a creepy-ass animated tree that attacked the group. The next time she saw them, she got inspired again and sang this song. In the campaign, the sun had recently been blotted out, and the players were trapped in a snowstorm. As I imagined her singing the song, part of her backstory was filled in by the lyrics of this and "The Hanging Tree" that some sort of house of ill-repute (prostitution? gambling house? yes...?) was where she lost a lover, turning her dark.

[@nzeckner]

I love the Dolly Parton version, and how explicit she is about what her version of the House of the Rising sun is.

[@Hello_Foxy]

This song is the definition of: music is for everyone

[@c123bthunderpig]

Yes, an old , diversified song with unknown origins, however, The Animals brought it to life and made it an iconic sound of a new generation, a song of liberation.

[@DS-cf1zc]

I loved this, I first heard the song sung acapella by a friend on his guitar during my military days nearly 40 years ago. He used to play this to those of us around him - he was a legendary musician, and really understood music. A talent guy. About seven years ago, my wife bought me a cheap Uke, purely because i kept saying I wanted to play one, this lead to me buying my own - oddly the one song I learnt to play was this - with my inspiration being the guy who played this many years earlier in the military. I love the fact it is the only tune I can bang out decently on a Ukulele, totally self taught, but powered by a chap who played this routinely to a whole batch of new recruits - I suspect he will never know the impact he had on my life.

[@GaidinDaishan]

How does someone sing acapella on a guitar? Isn't that paradoxical?

[@neetlikereallyneet9103]

@@GaidinDaishan I think you missed the point

[@philipethier9136]

Yeah, he missed the point. The original commenter really meant "solo", but since he expressed that he is not a musical expert, i let that go by.

[@smitajky]

I wonder if there is any other song anywhere of any genre that is as instantly recognisable as the first bar of the animals house of the rising sun. After the first three notes you KNOW what is coming. And I don't think I could ever get tired of that rush.

[@PeterEvans_music]

The Black Parade.

[@jagd7102]

@@PeterEvans_music No.

[@loffy9592]

The first few notes of “Paint it, Black”

[@AudacioresPuella]

Apparently Mr. Brightside by the killers

[@thingamabeb3755]

The first two beats of Recieve You

[@bretharvell1166]

I had no idea there were so many amazing renditions of house of the rising sun. This song has always been strangling my chilling to me, amazing video as always.

[@MrTarlecon]

Terrific video. Done like a Hollywood thriller, with cliffhangers, investigations and a veil of mysticism. A absolutely adore this specific work and this channel

[@monte6777]

I love songs like these-- with a long, storied history, full of variations. Misirlou comes to mind, similar in how many variations there are.

[@CJonesApple]

Wow, Nina Simone's version is awesome. What a perfect voice for the tone she was setting.

[@L.C.Sweeney]

Van Ronk was Dylan's hero. He's the person he watched to learn the guitar. To say Van Ronk copied him is hilarious.

[@murraymall5116]

Dave van Ronk played outside on a grassy area called The Quad where I went to college. I sat at his feet for his performance. I wanted so badly to request House of the Rising Sun, but I was really scared. During a soft love ballad, a motorcyclist revved the engine loudly. Not missing a beat, van Ronk looked over & yelled, "You're in the wrong key!"

[@imadlebiar1546]

A twenty years old artist named "Bob Dylan" ... gave me goosebumps Great video as usual! Thank you

[@rayrous8229]

Well put sir. I've spent hours exploring many of these other artists. You are broadening my perspective.

[@GetOffUrPhone]

Back in highschool I mentioned this song in a class discussion about music. The teacher got all "music snob" and started to go into how the song was simply a rendition, etc. That moment stuck with me, because it really humanized that teacher as a person with passion towards something (in this case, music), but I never understood how deep the rabbit hole went until this video. Superb work!

[@Armakk]

Best essay yet. Btw The Animals didn't invent the 6/8 version, Nina Simone's was in triplet time years earlier. So, more props to them.

[@sirturd2954]

I’ve always felt that the lyrics described it vaguely enough it can be whatever you want it to be, that being said I assumed it was a brothel

[@ironbacon]

Same. But in my head it was always a gambling hall

[@ViewThis.]

Me too. Whorehouse

[@ellenlehrman9299]

When sung from a woman’s perspective, it certainly sounds like a brothel.

[@domestikgoddez9823]

same here. his father was a gambling man and his mother sewed his new blue jeans. could be a gambling hall as EpicVodka commented. the shame of following his no good dad's example.

[@sirturd2954]

@@domestikgoddez9823 good point.

[@raulgarza2612]

Can't say I have a favorite. Each artist tells a SIMILAR story. However, each also tells the story with a different slant, different style, different personal experience, but NONE are EXACTLY alike. . . . . . . . . Illustrative as well as incisive! Thank you for posting.

[@bee8589]

nina simone's version will always be my absolute favorite version. the best one in my opinion. the way she sings it gives it that brooding, ominous, almost sad and somber feeling that i just adore

[@6thwatergateplumber]

This is a great lesson in how much historical stuff, shifting cultures, word usage, and all of that going into so many of these songs we listen to every day. Amazing, and fascinating how far back the seeds of these songs were planted.

[@Caiomb76]

The Animals version has been in my life since I was a child here in Brazil because my father used to listen a lot to it when he was young and didn't miss the opportunity to present the song to his son enthusiastically. Congrats for the video! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@michaelmcdonald137]

🌇🎈

[@elfodelputoinfierno]

Eu também!

[@FadesGameShack]

The part about Lomax and the work he did was amazing! Can you imagine the adventures this man had? Traveling around the country meeting small groups and families or little musicians in some quaint part of nowhere USA; laughing and living and hearing all this classic Americana music? The stories he could tell, just look at the one pic Poly posted in the video where Lomax is holding a cigarette and standing around a group smiling and vibing to the music? It reminds me of Jack K.'s On The Road.... Man what a time, what an adventure... something about that exploration and uniqueness of every single day sounds so thrilling and romantic

[@additudeobx]

An absolute iconic song mastered by the Animals. Hundreds of millions of people know that song and its basic lyrics, but far less can name the group that popularized this version.

[@peterparker9286]

The Doors

[@bdorrd]

Love Dylan's version. In the end where hes screaming out the lyrics. Its so good.

[@woodybalfour8213]

Went to a summer outdoor Gaslamp Killer bass heavy show where it poured torrential rain for the whole day/night. Everyone was completely soaked and it was pretty hard work being in the crowd. GLK confessed on the way to the show he didn't believe anyone would actually show up. Half way through, GLK dropped the Animals HOTRS. It was a spiritual moment with most of the crowd singing and GLK playing the organ part in the air with his hands. The cold and the wet went away. Unforgettable and I still get chills remembering it. Thanks for this vid. You do incredible work.

[@MartinRGarch]

Díky!

[@Omer-gu7fj]

I didn't even know that i wanted to understand the history behind this, now i know and its amazing!

[@JoLoneyMusic]

Leadbellys versions are hands down my favourite. I’m fascinated with songs so old that they just exist without any known who or why. Needless to say, this is one of my favourite songs. Great video! I’d love to see one on “where did you sleep last night”.

[@HanzsKlopek]

I think this is one of your best project yet.

[@pidgeonpatrol861]

I’m glad to know that the lyrics are so mailable, I’ve always heard the line as “the only time he’s satisfied is when he’s on the run” which felt so deep to me until I learned that’s not the lyrics at all. Three cheers for fluidity of language and awful hearing!

[@SJ-ni6iy]

We really owe a lot to Lomax, we would have lots so much of our history if he hadn’t documented it.

[@yee3771]

I can hear my mom singing this around the house…she was born in 1925 so not sure where she heard it first. We all loved the Animals tho❤️

[@thomasgross8289]

The song is old. WAY older than new Orleans, older than America

[@jameshenrysmith8426]

@@thomasgross8289 It was in the Hell's language. The fire on the mountain where the Devil is signalled the Devil was planning Korea. It was them telling their plans for Kpop and their work in surrounding Asian countries. These songs say the people are trapped pretending to be whores while the demons mind control the men till they die and feel drunk.

[@jameshenrysmith8426]

It was in the Hell's language. The fire on the mountain where the Devil is signalled the Devil was planning Korea. It was them telling their plans for Kpop and their work in surrounding Asian countries. These songs say the people are trapped pretending to be whores while the demons mind control the men till they die and feel drunk.

[@soopershpee5842]

@@jameshenrysmith8426 what

[@Livi_Noelle]

It's a house in New Orleans. The Animals have yet to be topped. Their rendition still owns. The tension that the organ builds and the 6/8 signature is mind blowing and fits the song perfectly. Chef's kiss. 10/10 will drunken karaoke again and again and again.

[@Awimpyman69]

Except you’re wrong. Like the video said, every artist who’s written this song has had their own vice and hardships woven into the lyrics, I believe the best version is dependent on the listener and their own struggle they can relate with.

[@Livi_Noelle]

@@Awimpyman69 well, I mean, only one artist ever wrote it.

[@Awimpyman69]

@@Livi_Noelle except you’re wrong again, because with each new artist comes new lyrics. It’s literally said in the video that the only constant lyric throughout every iteration is the “house of the rising sun”

[@Livi_Noelle]

@@Awimpyman69 cool story... Go away now, please. I don't really give two squirts of urine less for your inane and ridiculous opinions. Toodles!

[@Awimpyman69]

@@Livi_Noelle don’t post comments publicly then if you can’t handle different opinions

[@jealousforever]

I guess someone already pointed this out in the comments, but in my opinion (one of my studying fields is literature), the house of the rising sun is a metaphor for addiction. Whether it‘s gambling, alcohol, other drugs or intercourse. Additionally, the rising sun can be seen as an euphemism for the ecstasy one gets out of gambling, using drugs or having intercourse with prostitutes, since the rising sun can be interpreted as a sign of new hope throughout many cultures. The rest of the lyrics then gets pretty self-explanatory. tldr: An easy song with easy lyrics but deep meaning.

[@jasonlamar6347]

Great video. I love Leadbelly's takes on so many folk songs and he had several on this one....But The Animals' arrangement was a stroke of genius. It has always commanded my attention whenever it's played.