Singalong! House of the Rising Sun by The Animals

The House of the Rising Sun is an old folk song, so its actual origins are pretty much unknown, but the most popular version of this was put together by the Animals. So moody, so dark, so good for singing your heart out to. It's got all the wonderful gritty darkness of an emotional gutwrencher, but because it's a cautionary tale about the dangers of drinking and gambling in New Orleans most of us can throw our hearts into it without feeling too close to home and actually breaking down into sobbing fits. Win-win!

It's also really fun to watch the music video and see how stiff and unemotional the Animals are while they perform this super-from-the-depths-of-your-darkest-breath song.

HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN

Animals

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 bluejeans

My father was a gamblin' man

Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs

Is a suitcase and trunk

And the only time he's satisfied

Is when he's on a 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

Well, I got one foot on the platform

The other foot on the train

I'm goin' 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