"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun

 

"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". The Animals

"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues".

It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans; many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate.

The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the British rock band the Animals, was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and also in the US and France.

As a traditional folk song recorded by an electric rock band, it has been described as the "first folk rock hit".

Oh, mother, tell your children

Not to do what I have done

Spend your lives in sin and misery