Some years back the classic song, House Of The Rising Sun was included on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time at number 122. This is a song with a unique fascination for music lovers of our time and being able to pick up a guitar and play The House Of The Rising Sun will guarantee you will be the center of attention at any social gathering whether it be the office party, a high school dance or a get together at your favorite penitentiary. The song was first recorded by a sixteen-year-old girl called Georgia Turner who later became a professional folksinger. It was recorded by many artists including Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly but it was an English rock group, as usual, who showed the world how to interpret an American folksong.



During the sixties and seventies there was a whole new wave of electric bands singing folksongs but Eric Burdon And The Animals with House Of The Rising Sun are credited with starting the trend. The guitar chords for House Of The Rising Sun are quite easy to play, so in a matter of minutes you will be able to start working in your own personal arrangement of this iconic song. The key to the sound of the song is the A minor chord played as an arpeggio. Here is a simplified version:

E -------------------------------

B ------------------1------------

G -------------2--------2---------

D ---------2----------------2-----

A --0-----------------------------

E --------------------------------

You will be able to duplicate the Animals' guitarist, Hilton Valentine's strumming with a little practice and you will easily see how he fits a couple of extra notes in. There are more detailed tab versions on the internet and video clips of The Animals playing the song on TV. So here are the lyrics with the guitar chords shown on the first verse:

Am C D F

There is a house in New Orleans

Am C E E

They call the Rising Sun

Am C D F

And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy

Am E Am

And God I know I'm one

JUST REPEAT THE CHORD SEQUENCE FOR THE REST OF THE VERSES

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 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

If you search around the internet you will find some slightly different versions, but I would suggest you use what I have given you here as a basis for your own trademark rendition.