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House Of The Rising Sun

from The Secret Diary Of A Tunesmith Vol 3 by Lins Honeyman

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The challenge to adapt a traditional song or tune resulted in this augmented version of House Of The Rising Sun. Taking as its basis the version made famous by the Animals (which itself was influenced by the earlier Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan recordings), it delves further into the back story to offer up a new slant on the song.

Traditionally, the song is meant to be sung from a female point of view (contrary to the Animals’ rendition) and it’s widely thought that the eponymous house was a brothel. However, many people have tried to locate a physical building called the Housing of the Rising Sun in New Orleans without success and there’s therefore no evidence to support the viewpoint that the song refers to a house of ill repute with some people suggesting it was instead a penitentiary or jail house on account of the “ball and chain” lyric.

This new version moves the supposed setting from a brothel to a prison and gives a bit of background as to why the girl in the song has hit hard times. In addition, the chord structure and melody have been changed to put some distance between it and the matchless Animals version.

Some of the original elements remain – sewing new blue jeans, the first and last verses and “the only thing” line, for instance – but they are used more as a jumping off point for new lyrics that hopefully give more insight into why the girl in the song ended up in sin and misery in the Housing of the Rising Sun.

Recorded in a couple of takes in my living room using one stereo mic and a Zoom recorder, this is as stripped down as it gets.

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from The Secret Diary Of A Tunesmith Vol 3, released December 31, 2017
Lins Honeyman: vocals; acoustic guitar

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Lins Honeyman Perth, UK

Lins Honeyman is a singer/songwriter and performer based in Perthshire, Scotland. Lins has appeared live in bars, prisons, churches and living rooms - both solo and with his band.

To keep things fresh, he goes between guitar, harmonica, piano, mandolin, dobro and ukulele and plays a range of original material, old blues numbers and the odd surprising cover or two! ... more

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