There is a house in New Orleans
There is an infamous place in New Orleans where women go and risk their lives.

They call the Rising Sun
The house’s name is the Rising Sun.

It has been the ruin of many a poor girl
Numerous young ladies have lost everything they had or even died there.

And me, oh, God, I'm one
I'm one of those poor girls too.

If I had listened to what my mother said,
I could have avoided being a victim of the house of the Rising Sun if I only listened to my mother’s advice.

I'd have been at home today,
I would have still been alive and well in the safety of my own home today.

But I was young and foolish, oh, God
I was reckless in my youth, and I made a mistake I deeply regret.

Let a rambler lead me astray
I followed a wandering man who led me into danger.

Go tell my baby sisters
Please tell my younger sisters.

Don't do what I have done
Do not go to the house of the Rising Sun as I did.

To shun that house in New Orleans
Avoid that infamous place in New Orleans called the Rising Sun.

And going back to New Orleans
I’m heading back to New Orleans.

My race is almost run
My life is coming to an end, and I’m running out of time.

I'm going back to spend my life
I'm going back to stay in New Orleans for the rest of my life.

Beneath the rising sun
I'll be living in the shadow of that horrible place called the Rising Sun.