Text 34115, 116 rader
Skriven 2016-06-24 14:22:10 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
  Kommentar till text 34107 av Björn Felten (2:203/2)
Ärende: The Animals
===================
Hello Björn,

 LL>> Who says Swedes are nuts?

 BF> Depends on how nutty you have to be to be regarded as nuts, I guess. Or
 BF> maybe you are thinking of rutabagas? That's not a nut, that's a root
 BF> vegetable.

Swedes played like vegetables against Belgium in today's soccer match.

 BF> Come to think of it, what's about The House Of The Rising Sun?

A girl corrupted into a life of ruin.  According to the two
hicks from Kentucky who wrote the song.  The Animals version
was just an adaptation, not the original lyrics.  Tells a
completely different story.

There was a madam in New Orleans.  And her surname (Levant) meant
"The Rising Sun".  Hence the title of the song.

 BF> It's always been one of my favourite tunes, and among the first that I
 BF> learned how to play on my guitar.

The song is an oldie, first recorded in the 1920s by black bluesman
Texas Alexander.  Leadbelly and many others played it later.  But the
song had been around long before it had ever been recorded.

The melody is, as Allen noted, an English ballad.  The lyrics were
written later, by Georgia Turner and Bert Martin, both of whom were
from Kentucky in the USA.

In 1941, folklorist Alan Lomax included the traditional lyrics in
his book "Our Singing Country" -

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun.
It's been the ruin of many a young girl,
and me, O God, for one.

If I had listened to what Mamma said,
I'd `a' been at home today.
Being so young and foolish, poor boy,
let a rambler lead me astray.

Go tell my baby sister
never do like I have done
to shun that house in New Orleans
they call the Rising Sun.

My mother she's a tailor,
sh sold those new blue jeans.
My sweetheart, he's a drunkard, Lord, Lord,
drinks down in New Orleans.

The only thing a drunkard needs
is a suitcase and a trunk.
The only time he's satisfied
is when he's on a drunk.

Fills his glasses to the brim,
passes them around
only pleasure he gets out of life
is hoboin' from town to town.

One foot is on the platform
and the other one on the train.
I'm going back to New Orleans
to wear that ball and chain.

Going back to New Orleans,
my race is almost run.
Going back to spend the rest of my days
beneath that Rising Sun.

 BF> Has there ever been a House Of The Rising Sun in New Orleans?

Yes.

 BF> Inquisitive mind wants to know...

Madam Marianne LeSoleil Levant
826-830 St. Louis St.
New Orleans, Louisiana
1862-1874

Her surname translates to "The Rising Sun"
- so now you know the origin, and the namesake,
of the song.

The house was located not far from St. Louis Cemetery #1 -
the same cemetery where the scene from Easy Riders was shown.
The cemetery still exists, along with the statue Peter Fonda
was praying to (he was kinda high at the time).  But the
house is long gone.

The story behind the lyrics goes back to Civil War times.
Madam Levant was one of the leading figures among a certain
group of ladies in New Orleans who held a great deal of
influence on men from the Frozen Nawth at a time of immense
distress in the city.  Now remember, women of color in New
Orleans were not slaves.  And as such, were free to make
whatever bargain they wanted with their customers.

As you know, young men, far from home, need a bit of R & R
when given the chance.  But the general of the invading army
did not pay his soldiers much in order to do anything.  So
the women in New Orleans, strongly influenced by Madam Levant,
chose to go on strike.  And the soldiers refused to obey their
general's orders.  The end result was the general had to give
the soldiers what they wanted, and the soldiers had to give
the women what they wanted.

--Lee

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 * Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)