# House of the Rising Sun **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2000, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904 "2000-10-14T17:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/1 "2000-10-14T17:46:46Z")
Does anyone know who wrote the song, House of the Rising Sun (it wasn’t Eric Burdon). My friend insists that it was Dolly Parton. I laughed at first but then found the original lyrics … [http://www.nutz.org/olga/chordpro/t/Traditional/HouseOfTheRisingSun.chopro](http://www.nutz.org/olga/chordpro/t/Traditional/HouseOfTheRisingSun.chopro) …and sure enough, it’s from a woman’s p.o.v. Back in the day it was a common practice to have songwriters and then performers (ie.Leiber/Stoller\>Everyone). So it doesn’t sound too unusual after all. Does anyone have the dope? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/2 "2000-10-14T17:54:29Z")
[http://abcnews.go.com/sections/entertainment/DailyNews/risingsun000930\_1.html](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/entertainment/DailyNews/risingsun000930_1.html) Funny, [Abcnews.com](http://Abcnews.com) run a special on this very topic a couple of weeks ago. The link above will tell you everything that you need to know. Basically: 1. Dolly Parton did not write it. 2. No one knows who did write it. 3. It is a vgery old song. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/3 "2000-10-14T17:56:44Z")
Please excuse my spelling errors above. ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/4 "2000-10-14T18:10:54Z")
Wow, That is an amazing story. Thanks for the response. The article said there is a copy in the library of congress, I wonder where I could get a copy or hear it? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/5 "2000-10-14T18:24:01Z")
It’s possible it could be on a Folkways label. If it’s at LC, you’d have to go there and ask VERY NICELY to listen to it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/6 "2000-10-14T18:43:17Z")
I was under the impression that it was written by Dolly Parton because that’s the name in my music book. But when I posted such in a thread many months ago (at least I _think_ it was here), I was told that the version in my song book was _arragned_ by Parton, not written by her. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/7 "2000-10-14T18:47:59Z")
The original Animals’ recording of “House of the Rising Sun” listed their organ player, Alan Price, as the composer, but obviously variations on the song were around LONG before any of the Animals were born. It’s safe to say the REAL author died a long time ago, or he’d have sued a LOT of people for plagiarism. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/8 "2000-10-14T18:55:26Z")
Here is one set of lyrics: > [@](#): > > There is a house in New Orleans, > They call the Rising Sun. > It has been the ruin of many a poor girl, > And I, of Lord, was one. > > If I had listened to what mama said, > I’d ‘a’ been at home today. > Being so young and foolish, poor girl, > Let a gambler lead me astray. > > My mother, she’s a tailor, > She sells those new blue jeans. > My sweetheart, he’s a drunkard, Lord, > Drinks down in New Orleans. > > The only thing a drunkard needs > Is a suitcase and a trunk. > The only time he’s satisfied > Is when he’s on a drunk. > > Go tell my baby, sister, > Never do like I have done. > To shun that house in New Orleans, > They call the Rising Sun. > > One foot is on the platform, > And the other one on the train. > I’m going back to New Orleans > To wear that ball and chain. > > I’m going back to New Orleans, > My race is almost run. > Going back to end my life > Beneath the Rising Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/9 "2000-10-14T19:10:28Z")
Check out the versions of it done by a band called “Preacher”, it’s on [mp3.com](http://mp3.com) (legally). [http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/71/homegrown\_-\_peter\_preacher.html](http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/71/homegrown_-_peter_preacher.html) ---
**Author:** ![writefetus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9de053/32.png) [@writefetus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/writefetus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/10 "2000-10-16T13:36:44Z")
…IMHO the Bob Dylan version leaves all others in its dust ( although Dylan relates that, upon hearing the Animals cover of the song, he was inspired to “turn electric” and did so amidst cries of “Judas” at Monteray.) ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/11 "2000-10-16T17:13:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mavpace \* > ttp://abcnews.go.com/sections/entertainment/DailyNews/risingsun000930\_1.html This link is great. But it’s a shame that they talk so much about this old recording of the song, but don’t put it on their site. I’d love to hear it. Could it be under copyright still? ---
**Author:** ![TheProblemForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@TheProblemForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheProblemForce)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/12 "2000-10-16T18:08:53Z")
The really definitive version of this is Dave Van Ronk’s–he taught it to Dylan, and that’s basically the arrangement he used. The Animals’ version owes a lot to him by way of Dylan, too. (For a giggle, check out Andy Griffith’s version on _Andy Griffith Sings the Blues_, also collected on _Golden Throats Volume One_. I had to pull the car over the first time I heard it, I was laughing so hard.) ---
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2000, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-of-the-rising-sun/36904/13 "2000-10-16T23:58:04Z")
I love to play this song and in all my guitar books the author is listed as “Traditional”. It occurs to me that this “Traditional” person wrote a whole lotta music.