Today I listened to two younger co-workers argue over which version of a particular song was better-the original or the cover. The song is irrelevant except that it made me feel old, because I’d never heard of the song or of either performer.

But the argument reminded me that I find it hugely irritating when people get song facts wrong. What is supremely irritating is when someone believes some crappy cover version is original and excellent. One good example is the song ‘Signs, ’ originally by The Five Man Electrical Band and later a hit by some other group. Although now that I think about it, even the original wasn’t all that great.

Anyway, as an experiment I went surfing to find a combination of fact and opinion about a song I chose at random (if by random I mean a song I heard today and so chose that one).

The song I chose was “The House Of The Rising Sun.” The most widely known version was recorded by the Animals.

WARNING, IF YOU JUST WANT THE FUN STUFF, SKIP ON DOWN TO THE END BECAUSE THE FACTS MIGHT BE KIND OF BORING

I "researched" and wrote all this while listening to an excellent Halloween episode of This American Life available at http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=319
I highly recommend it.


First, some facts (I hope):
According to Wikipedia.org, ‘"The House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song from the United States. Also called "House of the Rising Sun" or occasionally "Rising Sun Blues", it tells of a life gone wrong in New Orleans. Depending on the version, the song may be sung from the perspective of a woman or a man. Two of the best-known renditions of the song are by the English group The Animals in 1964, which was a number one hit in both the United States and United Kingdom, and by Joan Baez in 1959-60.
Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun" is uncertain. Musicologists say that it is based on the tradition of broadside ballads such as the Unfortunate Rake of the 18th century which were taken to America by early settlers. Many of these had the theme of "if only" and after a period of evolution, they emerge as American songs like the Streets of Laredo. The tradition of the blues combined with these in which the telling of a sad story has a therapeutic effect.
The oldest known existing recording is by versatile Smoky Mountain artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster and was made in 1933. Ashley said he had learned it from his grandfather, Enoch Ashley. Texas Alexander's The Risin' Sun, which was recorded in 1928, is sometimes mentioned as the first recording, but this is a completely different song. The Callahan Brothers recorded the song in 1934.”

That’s enough Wikipedia to be getting on with. If you need more, try here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_Of_The_Rising_Sun

I also found this info from www.songfacts.com:
*“This was the first song since 1962 by a British band to hit #1 in America that was not written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. This is about a brothel in New Orleans.” *"The House Of The Rising Sun" was named after Madame Marianne LeSoleil Levant (which means "Rising Sun" in French) and was open for business from 1862 (occupation by Union troops) until 1874, when it was closed due to complaints by neighbors. It was located at 826-830 St. Louis St.”
*“The melody is a traditional English ballad, but the song became popular as an African-American Folk song. It was recorded by Texas Alexander in the 1920s, then by a number of other artists including Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and later Nina Simone. It was her version The Animals first heard. No one can claim rights to the song, meaning it can be recorded and sold royalty-free. Many bands recorded versions of this after it became a hit for The Animals.”
*“In the traditional Folk version, the main character is a prostitute. The Animals changed it to a gambler to make their version more radio-friendly.”

NOW THE FUN STUFF

Here are the discussion comments I found on forums:

Forum 1
Post 1: I'm confused. Didn't Dave van Ronk write it in the early 60s?

Post 2: In his book Chronicles (I think that's where I read this story) Bob Dylan tells of how he stole his version of the song from Dave Van Ronk, after which Van Ronk couldn't play it anymore without being accused of ripping off Dylan. Then the the Animals stole it from Dylan, after which, Dylan says, he couldn't play it without being accused of ripping off the Animals.

Forum 2
Post 1: who is the original composer of this song...dammit
Post 2: Is it Leadbelly, or did he just do a version of it
Post 3: The animals.
Post 4: No, the Animals made it famous, it's a traditional song, and instead of a gambling house, it was actually about a different kind of a house.
Post 5: oh my god thats easy bob dylan they have a slight variaton but its bob dylan the father of almost all rock music
Post 6: No, Bob Dylan did not write this song. He first heard it in New York where a fellow folk singer was doing it, and decided to put it on his first album. Only one or two songs on that one are written by him. It (the original lyrics, at least, which speak about a girl) was probably written by Georgia Turner and Bert Martin.
Post 7: This was a great song before Zeppelin did it; and
when they did it, it even made the song better........Great band singin' a great song
Post 8: damn it! zeppelin didnt do this song
it was the animals
Post 9: This song is about Cocaine, and the addiction and pain it brings...I forget who actually wrote the song in the first place..but eh.
Post 10: Explain to me how this song is about cocaine? Your just a cokehead like the rest of the people that believe that.
Post 11: the house of the rising sun is a whore house in new orleans
Post 18: I've got led zeppelin- house of the rising sun on my playlist. sounds like a live recording. perhaps they only ever played it live. or it was mistakenly labeled. led zeppelin. sure sounds like them though.
Post 21: I'm not sure who did it first, but i know the rolling stones do it, its on the classic rock radio chanle everyonce in a while. As for the what the songs about, i've heard its about Cocaine, a whore house, but ive also heard it's about Jail/prison. idfk.. its good song tho.