Music Blog

The Animals

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Song Lyric Sunday where this week
we’re writing about a song with a great
opening line. Here’s how the theme inspired me.

© Columbia Graphophone

This week for Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday, the theme is “Engaging”. The challenge? To write about a song with a great opening line, recommended by our friend Max of PowerPop…An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture.

Emerging from the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, the Animals was a popular English rock band of the 1960s, known for their gritty, blues-infused sound. Formed in Newcastle in 1962, they later relocated to London to capitalize on the British Invasion. The original lineup included Eric Burdon (vocals), Alan Price (keyboards), Chas Chandler (bass), Hilton Valentine (guitar), and John Steel (drums). While they achieved significant success with hits like “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and “It’s My Life”, they also experienced lineup changes and a shift towards psychedelia under the name Eric Burdon and the Animals. They blended electric blues with rock, creating a powerful and distinctive sound, particularly evident in their raw vocals and Price’s prominent organ playing. 

Their breakthrough hit was “House of the Rising Sun”, a cover of a traditional folk song which became a transatlantic #1 hit, showcasing their unique arrangement and Burdon’s powerful vocals. The song tells the story of a life gone wrong in New Orleans … the story of a person whose life is ruined by a place often interpreted as a brothel or gambling den … a place that traps and ruins those who enter.

The lyrics express regret and a plea for others to avoid the same fate. The narrator is often depicted as a young man, but early versions suggest the story was originally written from a woman’s perspective. Many believe the song refers to a specific brothel in New Orleans, possibly named after its madam, Marianne Le Soleil Levant, whose name translates into “rising sun”. Some also link it to a former New Orleans women’s prison, with a rising sun design on the gate, while others suggest it’s a more general metaphor for the temptations and pitfalls of the city’s nighttime activities.

The song’s origins are unclear but it’s considered a traditional folk song with roots in Appalachian music and potentially older British ballads. While early versions often had the narrator as a woman, lamenting her return to prostitution, the Animal’s version, with its male narrator, changed the song’s focus to a man’s downfall due to gambling and other vices.

The Animals’ 1964 hit version propelled the song to international fame and is often cited as a landmark folk-rock song. Their arrangement and Eric Burdon’s commanding voice brought the song’s message to a wider audience. In essence, “House of the Rising Sun” is a powerful and timeless tale of human fallibility and the destructive nature of temptation, with a setting in New Orleans adding to its mystique.

My song choice this week is “House of the Rising Sun” with the engaging opening line, “There is a house in New Orleans”.

This is “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals.


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 blue jeans
My father was a gamblin’ man
Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and a trunk
And the only time he’s satisfied
Is when he’s all drunk

Oh, mother, tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the house of the rising sun

I got one foot on the platform
The another on the train
And I’m going back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain

Well, 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

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Alan Price/Leo Leandros/Arno Flor
House of the Rising Sun lyrics © Brian Auger Music, Autobahn Musik Gmbh, Hanseatic Musikverlag Gmbh & Co Kg, Keith Prowse Music Publishing Co Ltd, Orpheum Music Co Inc, Happy Musikverlag Gmbh Co Kg, Sveva Music Limited, Anthem Cantaloupe Music

Engaging
Count Five – Psychotic Reaction

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday each week and to Max of PowerPop for recommending this week’s theme. Be sure to follow the links and check out Jim and Max’s sites.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to some tunes.

That’s all she wrote, kids. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

81 thoughts on “The Animals”

  2. Back in 1964, my bandmate, Jarry Boy Davis, and I went to Memphis to visit his cousin, who lived in Tunica, MS, and in Memphis. Tunica is the same town where Elvis grew up. We heard that the Dave Clark Caravan of Stars was in Memphis, so we headed downtown to the Coliseum and bought tickets for about five bucks each. On the bill were BJ Thomas And The Triumphs, Chad and Jeremy, Herman’s Hermits, Freddie and the Dreamers, Dusty Springfield, and the Animals. There may have been a few more, but I can’t remember. The Animals owned the whole damn show; nobody even came close to those guys. Rocking British blues barking out of those Vox amplifiers, hardcore rocking stuff that made you want to jump around like a dufus. It was a great concert. We were in and out of Memphis all through the sixties and never once saw Elvis. Jarry’s aunt lived relatively close to Elvis’s home, and she used to see him all the time driving around town in his Cadillacs, or so she said. She was also fond of Jack Daniels, mostly all day long.

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      1. Tickets were dirt cheap back then, but back then $5 bucks was real money and not easy for a teenager to come by. I still have my original copy of The Animals first album, the one were they are wearing the blue and white checked shirts with ties.

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        1. Damn straight! Bill & I would go to the Fillmore E in NYC and see 3 big name acts on a Friday night for $5, with the great Joshua Light Show and enough ganja smoke in the air to stay high for the whole show, the car ride home and pancakes at the diner! I know the album cover you speak of; they all look like they’re auditioning for the role of Opie Taylor! We have the same one!

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  6. This song brings back memories. The lead vocalist has such an intriguing voice. Thank you for providing such wonderful history. By the way, I flipped over to the story about Mahagony Hall. What a wonderfully gritty and real story. Excellent write, Nancy.

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    1. Thank you, Brenda. Eric Burdon has such a unique and powerful voice, easily identifiable; intriguing is an excellent word for it.

      I’m deeply touched and honored that you also read Mahogany Hall. I’m very proud of how that story turned out and so appreciative of your comments. Thank you very much, Brenda.

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  8. Thanks for highlighting another favourite, Nancy! The Animals’ version of “House of the Rising Sun” is a much-loved classic. We had the pleasure of seeing Eric Burdon perform live on a couple of occasions. He was in his 70s at the time and still sounded amazing. What a voice! 💖 Here’s a sampling:

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  9. I absolutely love that song, Nancy! The guitar part is cool, and Eric Burdon’s singing is absolute killer. And that organ sound…It still gives me the chills.

    I also have fond memories about my sister’s ex-boyfriend, who when he was a teen looked a bit like Gregg Allman, years later showed me how to play the guitar part and lent me his Gibson Les Paul for an afternoon. I must have been like 14 or 15 at the time. While that mighty Gibson guitar was so heavy, I felt like in heaven. Sorry, perhaps too much info! 🙂

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  11. One of the most iconic lines in a song. I never ever get tired of this song. It’s like a huge warning shot from a ships bow….saying you better heed this advice….Burdon makes it believable….Great pick Nancy

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  20. Great choice, Nancy as I love this song. It taps into a very basic awareness of danger and carries an exemplary hope that parents would do a better job raising their children, sending shivers up our spines, so that their sibling can avoid the harmful effects of suffering the same fate.

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          1. OMG Nancy that was such a great story. I loved every little morsel and was left wanting more. For some reason I couldn’t leave a comment on the story itself but damn girl that was a tale I wish I had written myself. Bravo!

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            Reply

            1. No idea why you couldn’t leave a comment there. Thanks so much for reading, Jodi. That story is very dear to my heart and I’m proud of it. It was one of those that comes in an instant in its entirety and all I had to do was sit and type. I’m delighted to know you enjoyed it.

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  24. Wow, “The Animals” … this is so coincidental, they are touring Australia, and I had purchased my tickets months ago (a definite must see for me), “The Final Curtain Tour”, at the historic ‘Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat, Tuesday, 11th November, 8.00 pm, A fitting highlight, not long after my trip to Canada … Thank you for your wonderful and the super fabulous song, Nancy 🎵😍🌏🎵💜 … this was one of my favourite songs, as a young man who didn’t want to go to Vietnam

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      1. You’re most welcome, Nancy … I haven’t been to a concert for a while, so I’m really looking forward to the show 🎶😊😍🌏 It’s 3.00 am and time to go back to sleep 😴

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                    2. I’m improving slowly. and I’ve still 4 more days of my ‘antibiotics’ to go … it’s going to be close but I think I’ll be ok by this time next week … only 9.45 pm and I’m already exhausted and nearly asleep 😴😊😍🌏

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                2. Don’t fret about it, dear Ivor. I believe this illness of yours is the result of the anticipation and stress involved in getting ready for your trip. You’re in a weakened state and just need to rest. If you don’t have any immediate obligations, continue getting as much rest as you can and stay hydrated. You’ll be fit as a fiddle by the time you need to leave. Goodnight, dear friend. Sleep well. 😴🥰

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