Posted on 10/28/2009 4:41:42 AM PDT by navysealdad
"The House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song from the United States. Also called "House of the Rising Sun" or occasionally "Rising Sun Blues", it tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans. Depending on the version, the song may be sung from the perspective of a woman or a man. The most successful version was recorded by the English rock group The Animals in 1964, which was a number one hit
(Excerpt) Read more at angelfire.com ...
I like Frijid Pink’s version better but the Animals did a great job on that song.
45 years ago, eeeeeegads
Other song on that album was the Vietnam theme song.
x2, FRiend, x2
Great stuff. I can still picture that album cover hanging on my bedroom wall, much to the chagrin of my mother.
Thanks for posting.
Depending on the version, the song may be sung from the perspective of a woman or a man.File under: 'You learn something new ever day'.
and shame on Bob Dylan for trying to rip it off as his own. Oops, I mean 'Bob Zimmerman'.
It was summer of 1965 in San Juan PR. Latino pals with bad accents all demanding me, the sole gringo jump on stage to sing HofRS like and Animal... So ended my singing career.
...Vietnam theme song.
Gotta Get Out Of This Place?
Brian Johnson [formerly of Geordie, currently with AC/DC] does a version that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
He really gets into it and growls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipeODPj5WRU
It’s on par with FP’s version, IMO.
I judge every bar band on their handling of the song.
If they don’t sing it like they’ve lived it, I’m not impressed.
Possibly the most amazing version I’ve ever heard was by a bluegrass band.
Surrealistic.
it would have ended my short drinking career too.....
better yet, Thai version of “Lowlin Down the Liver”
Odetta did an amazing version (from the woman perspective).
Not much of a sense of hope in that song, is there?
I think the name was “Sky Pilot”. Boy am I telling MY age.
The House of the Rising Sun actually existed between 1862 to about 1874 and was run by a Madam Marianne LeSoleil Levant whose name translates from French as such. Offbeat New Orleans, a guide book on New Orleans asserts that the real House of the Rising Sun was at 826-830 St. Louis St. between 1862 and 1874 and was purportedly named for its madam, Marianne LeSoleil Levant.
In May 2005, Archaelogists found the remains of this bordello.
It was never a prison as some people have claimed.
In Anglo-American culture; during the Victorian period Brothels were often refered to using puns/double entendre as a House of the Rising Sun.
The ballad goes way back and no one is sure who the author or composer is. Mickey Roark claimed to have written the song but lost copyright to Dylan and others in some of the legal battles that followed.
Some of the earliest forms of this ballad so not refer to a male but to a female who has been corrupted because she must work to support herself as her husband is a drunkard and does not work. In Victorian days no respectable woman worked nor did she wear any make up. A working girl was viewed with suspicion and again a ‘working girl or woman’ often refered to a woman who was a prostitute.
The Animal’s version of “House” is one of the ten greatest rock songs of the sixties. Maybe the greatest.
In May 2005, Archaelogists found the remains of this bordello.
It was never a prison as some people have claimed. In Anglo-American culture; during the Victorian period Brothels were often refered to using puns/double entendre as a House of the Rising Sun.
The ballad goes way back and no one is sure who the author or composer is. Mickey Roark claimed to have written the song but lost copyright to Dylan and others in some of the legal battles that followed.
Some of the earliest forms of this ballad so not refer to a male but to a female who has been corrupted because she must work to support herself as her husband is a drunkard and does not work. In Victorian days no respectable woman worked nor did she wear any make up. A working girl was viewed with suspicion and again a ‘working girl or woman’ often refered to a woman who was a prostitute." I've always thought that the song was traditionally sung by a female, referring to her having descended to a point where she'd had to work as a prostitute.
I started taking guitar lessons in HS, 1963. A couple years later I picked up a paperback book of 'Folk Songs' (all simple 3 chord songs). One of them in there was House of The Rising Sun.
For 'writer/composer' it said, 'Traditional'. So I knew it went way back in time. Way before Bob Dylan was even born. So I was surprised to see in Wiki he tried taking credit for writing it.
I wasn't surprised that The Animals didn't write it when I saw 'Traditional'. Most R&R Bands didn't write their own music back then (Beatles and a couple others were an exception).
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