Animals: The House Of The Rising Sun Meaning
Song Released: 1964
The House Of The Rising Sun Lyrics
They call the Rising Sun
And 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 bluejeans
My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans
Now...
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this song is about a negro man who builds his house with the hard earned money that he made working as a farm hand picking cotton in the fields down in new orleans. all his peers spend thier pay freely and drink and smoke and gamble the money away.
when the negro man finaly sells the house that he built, the sheriff arrest him (for tax evasion) and he goes off to the state prison to where his ball and chain.
"so mothers tell your children not to do as i have done, spend all your life in sin and misery in the house of the rising sun" -
My take is that the House of the Rising Sun is something like a rehab clinic. I know this is a very old song, and I think that a rehab clinic (it wouldn't have been called that in the 30's say) would have been more like a prison or halfway house. It's a young person battling addiction. His family was disfunctional mainly because his father wasn't around (traveling, gambling and drinking instead of supporting his wife and kids). The most telling line is "one foot on the platform, the other foot on the train" which shows the struggle of addiction. Should he fight it or just give in to it? He's going back to N.O. (the House of the Rising Sun, the place of hope) to wear that ball and chain (to fight his/her inner demons and it won't be easy, it's like losing your freedom to try to get your life back).
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I think its about a prison in new orleans
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It's a song about a whore house and how we SHOULDN't use em!!
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It is about a whorehouse
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It is a gambling house/bordello.
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This song is reference to a whore house in New Orleans
"There is.... A House...... Down in New Orleans..... They call.... They call The Rising Sun...."
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