Maybe it's worth posting the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index, although most of the information in this entry has already been posted above.
-Joe Offer-House of the Rising Sun, The
DESCRIPTION: The singer laments, "There is a house in New Orleans / They call the Rising Sun / It's been the ruin of many a poor girl / And me, O God, I'm one." She tells of her troubled childhood, laments that she cannot escape her life, and warns others against it
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1941 (Lomax/Lomax, "Our Singing Country")
KEYWORDS: whore lament
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph-Legman I, pp. 250-253, "The House of the Rising Sun" (5 texts, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 151, "The Rising Sun Blues" (1 text, 1 tune)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 18, "House Of The Rising Sun" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 184, "House Of The Rising Sun" (1 text)
DT, HOUSESUN*
RECORDINGS:
Roscoe Holcomb, "The Rising Sun" [LP] or "House in New Orleans" [CD] (on Holcomb-Ward1, HolcombCD1)
Almanac Singers, "House of the Rising Sun" (General 5020B, 1941; on Almanac01, Almanac03, AlmanacCD1)
Pete Seeger, "House of the Rising Sun" (on PeteSeeger18)
Notes: Legman offers extensive, if rambling, notes in Randolph-Legman I. - EC
File: RL250Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index InstructionsThe Ballad Index Copyright 2002 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.