Animals: The House Of The Rising Sun Meaning

Song Released: 1964

The House Of The Rising Sun Lyrics

There is a house in New Orleans
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...

1. anonymous

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   Jan 14th 2013 !⃝

   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"
2. anonymous

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   Jul 22nd 2012 !⃝

   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).
3. anonymous

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   Aug 18th 2011 !⃝

   I think its about a prison in new orleans
4. anonymous

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   Jun 1st 2011 !⃝

   It's a song about a whore house and how we SHOULDN't use em!!
5. anonymous

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   Apr 26th 2011 !⃝

   It is about a whorehouse
6. anonymous

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   Feb 6th 2011 !⃝

   It is a gambling house/bordello.
7. doodooboy89

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   Oct 4th 2009 !⃝

   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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