Source Recording: The Country Gentlemen (1973)
There is a house in New Orleans
They call the risin' sun
It's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one
My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
My daddy was a gamblin' man
Way down in New Orleans
Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and a trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on the drunk
Now mothers tell your children
Not to do what I have done
And spend their life in sin and misery
In the house of the risin' sun
“The House of the Rising Sun,” also known as “Rising Sun Blues,” is a traditional song of uncertain authorship, with likely roots in older British folk song. The oldest known recording was made in 1933 by the Appalachian musicians Clarence Ashley and Gwen Foster, and Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather.
The song is a warning told from inside ruin. The singer names a house in New Orleans that has been the downfall of many, and confesses to a wasted life there — gambling, drink, and regret — pleading that others not follow the same path.
The song has been recorded countless times across folk, blues, and rock, and it found a place in bluegrass as well.
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