The House Of The Rising Sun
Santa Esmeralda/Leroy Gomez Lyrics

There is a house in New Orleans
There's a specific house in New Orleans that's known as The Rising Sun.

They call the Rising Sun,
People refer to that specific house as The Rising Sun.

And it's been the ruin for many a poor boy,
That house has destroyed the lives of numerous unfortunate men.

And God, I know I'm one.
The artist is confessing that he's one of the many whose life was ruined by that house.

My mother was a tailor,
The artist's mother was skilled at sewing clothes.

Sewed my new blue jeans.
She made him new blue jeans by sewing them herself.

My father was a gambling' man
The singer's father had a gambling habit.

Down in New Orleans.
His father lived in New Orleans.

Now, the only thing a gambler needs
All a gambler needs is

Is a suitcase and a trunk,
baggage that a gambler keeps with himself, consisting of a suitcase and a trunk.

And the only time he'll be satisfied
The only time the gambler will feel content is

Is when he's all drunk.
when he's fully intoxicated.

Oh, Mother, tell your children
The singer is addressing his mother to advise her kids.

Not to do what I have done,
He's asking his mother not to let her children follow in his footsteps.

Spend your lives in sin and misery
The existence in sin and pain is what the singer thinks the occupants of the house have dealt with.

In the house of the Rising Sun.
The Rising Sun house is the house individuals should avoid living in because of its corrupt ways.

Well, I've got one foot on the platform,
The artist suggests that he is already leaving.

The other foot on the train.
He implies that he's standing with one foot on the train, ready to leave.

I'm going back to New Orleans
He's going back to New Orleans.

To wear that ball and chain.
He's coming back for punishment caused by his past life with the expectation that he is going to be put in prison.

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
The artist is introducing the song's central image again.

They call the Rising Sun,
People identify that specific house as The Rising Sun.

And it's been the ruin for many a poor boy,
That house has broken many unfortunate young men's lives.

And God, I know I'm one.
Once again, the artist confesses to being one of the many boys who have been subjected to that house's ruinous influence.