The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #8592   Message #1549599
Posted By: GUEST,John Garst
25-Aug-05 - 02:08 PM
Thread Name: Origin or title of House of the Rising Sun?
Subject: RE: Origin or title of House of the Rising Sun?
>Is it possible that the "ruin" referred to in either version
>(male/female) is the contracting of one or more of various
>STDs? Even the successful (earliest) treatments for these
>diseases could be life-threatening. Is it a possibility?
>Tw

Certainly, and perhaps that goes along with "When you want your pecker spoilt / That's where you get it done."

On the other hand, that phrasing, "When you want ...," suggests something other than disease as the meaning of "your pecker spoilt." I take the meaning to be overindulged, as with a spoiled child.

That's one of the reasons that I prefer to see "ruin" as financial and character loss in the "boy" versions. In the "girl" versions, I think it is just being a whore.