Folk song House of the Rising Sun, which is sometimes known as Rising Sun Blues, is about a life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions of the song urge children and parents or a sibling to avoid the identical fate.
Among them, the release of The Animals, a rock band from the UK, recorded in the year of 1964, was the most successful commercial one. It soon became No.1 hit on Singles Chart in the UK as well as in the US and France. Since this traditional folk ballad performed by electric rock group The Animals, it was considered a “first folk-rock hit”.
Similar to many other classic folk songs, it is of unknown authorship. As per musicologists, the ballad follows the broadside ballad tradition. The song was believed to have been popular among miners in the year of 1905. The oldest lyrics version is the one produced by Robert Winslow Gordon in 1925.
When it comes to the band The Animals, they are a blues and rock group, established in Newcastle upon Tyne at the beginning of the 1960s. They moved to London to seeking fame in the year of 1964. Some partial regroupings of the band’s original members took place under several names. The band was formally introduced in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the year of 1994. The band was famous for their bluesy and gritty sound, deep-voiced lead vocal Eric Burdon as well.
Some well-known songs of the band included the signature single, House of the Rising Sun, and many other hits like It’s My Life, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, I’m Crying, and We Gotta Get Out of This Place. We must say that the group had balance in tough and rock-edged pop songs against blues-orientated album material.
There AM is a hoCuse in NDew Orleans, F
They AMcall the “RiCsing SE7un”,
It’s AMbeen the Cruin of maDny a poor boy, F
And AM God, I knEow, I’m AM one.
My AMmother Cwas a taiDlor, F
She AMsewed my Cnew blue E7jeans,
My AMfather Cwas a gamblDing man, F
Down AMin New Orleans. E
Now thAMe only Cthing a gDambler needs, F
Is a suitAMcase aCnd a E7trunk,
And AMthe only timCe, he’Ds satisfied, isF when
He’s AMon a drunk E