The Supremes were a very successful Motown all-female singing group active … Read Full Bio ↴The Supremes were a very successful Motown all-female singing group active from 1959 until 1977, performing at various times doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway showtunes, psychedelia, and disco. One of Motown's signature acts, The Supremes were the most successful African-American musical act of the 1960s, recording twelve #1 hits between 1964 and 1969, many of them written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland-Dozier-Holland. The crossover success of the Supremes during the mid-1960s paved the way for future black soul and R&B acts to gain mainstream audiences both in the United States and overseas.

Founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States in 1959, The Supremes began as a quartet called The Primettes. Founding members Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, all from the Brewster-Douglas public housing project in Detroit, were the sister act to The Primes (later The Temptations). In 1960, Barbara Martin replaced McGlown, and the group signed with Motown in 1961 as The Supremes. Martin left at the end of 1961, and Ross, Ballard, and Wilson carried on as a trio. After they achieved success in the mid-1960s with Ross as the lead singer, Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes in 1967, and replaced Ballard with Cindy Birdsong. Ross left the group for a solo career in 1970, and was replaced by Jean Terrell. After 1972, the lineup of the Supremes changed frequently, with Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne, and Susaye Greene all becoming members before the group ended its eighteen-year existence in 1977.

The House Of The Rising Sun
The Supremes Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor girl
And God I know I'm one

My mother was a tailor
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
The only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drunk

Oh, mother tell your children
Not to do what we have done
Spend your lives in cheap misery
In the House of the Rising Sun

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun

And it's been the ruin of many poor girl
And God I know I'm one

Overall Meaning

The Supremes’ rendition of “House of the Rising Sun” tells the story of a young woman who has fallen victim to the destructive nature of gambling and the seedy underworld of New Orleans. The singer opens the song with the proclamation that there is a house in New Orleans that they call the Rising Sun, which has been the downfall of many poor women, including herself. She then begins to recount her own experience, revealing that her mother was a tailor who had sewn her new blue jeans, and her father was a gambler in New Orleans. The singer laments that her father spent his time on drunken binges and implies that her mother was powerless to stop him.

The lyrics in the chorus encourage the mother to warn her children not to make the same mistakes that the singer and her parents made. The song tries to teach a moral lesson to the audience that gambling and the life it creates will only lead to misery. It suggests that the house of the rising sun is a metaphor for the underworld of gambling and prostitution, and the rising sun represents the retribution that awaits those who spend their lives in this manner. The Supremes’ version highlights the dark and sorrowful nature of the original song.

Line by Line Meaning

There is a house in New Orleans
In the city of New Orleans, there exists a building

They call the Rising Sun
The locals refer to this structure as 'the Rising Sun'

And it's been the ruin of many a poor girl
This place has caused a great deal of destruction and harm to numerous financially disadvantaged women

And God I know I'm one
I, the artist, am one of these unfortunate girls who have been ruined by this house

My mother was a tailor
The artist's mother was a person who made clothes for a living

Sewed my new blue jeans
The singer's mother stitched together a new pair of pants that happen to be blue

My father was a gamblin' man
The singer's father was an individual who engaged in various forms of gambling

Down in New Orleans
This gambling took place in the city of New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs
For an individual who gambles, the sole requirement is

Is a suitcase and trunk
Possessing a suitcase and a trunk is sufficient for this purpose

The only time he's satisfied
The gambler is only content

Is when he's on a drunk
When he is severely intoxicated with alcohol

Oh, mother tell your children
The singer appeals to her mother to inform her offspring

Not to do what we have done
To avoid repeating our mistakes

Spend your lives in cheap misery
Do not waste your existence in a state of inexpensive distress

In the House of the Rising Sun
Particularly in the very location referred to as 'the Rising Sun'

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
Once again, there exists a structure in New Orleans

They call the Rising Sun
This edifice is still known as 'the Rising Sun' by the locals

And it's been the ruin of many poor girl
As previously mentioned, it has already caused an extensive amount of harm to disadvantaged females

And God I know I'm one
Unfortunately, I, the artist, am one of these victims

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Alan Price

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS