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Cover Wars: The House of the Rising Sun
Contrary to what you may think or what you think you might know, “The House of the Rising Sun” isn’t a song that belongs to any one person. A traditional folk song, it most likely has it origins in far older ballads on a similar theme. Since it doesn’t really belong to anyone, a lot of different people have sung this song over the years. It was pretty difficult to choose which two versions of this old folk song should be spotlighted in this week’s Cover Wars. I finally decided to go with the most popular of versions, The Animal’s versus the parred down and far more traditional version sung by Joan Baez. This is a song traditionally sung by women so we really need to have a gal representing in this war.
The Animal’s version was released in 1964 and tells the story of a young man who goes to New Orleans and descends into a life of gambling and hedonism. Lamenting this descent is the chief theme of the song. The Animal’s version is of its time. In 1964, if you recall, the British Invasion was in full swing and rock music tended to consist of quartets and quintets of young men in slim suits and ties and rather dubious haircuts. The Animals were no exception to this rule and their version of “The House of the Rising Sun” shares many of the features of pop music circa 1964. There’s the opening salvos of the electric guitar, followed by Eric Burdon’s baritone sallying forth across its strains, bemoaning his fate. There’s three things that make this song a hit 1)it makes it about a gambler instead of a prostitute, thus less offensive 2)it speeds up the tempo and 3)it uses a Vox Continental organ solo to great effect.
No doubt that this the version you are most familiar with. But it isn’t all gamblers and organ playing. Oh no. In some ways, the very things that make this version of “The House of the Rising Sun” are the very things that are marks against it. In
making a song sung from the man’s point of view, you really don’t have the kind of pathos you get when a woman sings about being forced into a life of prostitution. Becoming a drunk and a gambler? Bummer pants! Forced to become a prostitute because of your gambler boyfriend? Tragic! Also, in speeding up the tempo, you lose some of the melancholy of the song. It doesn’t read nearly as heartwrenching when you can shimmy to it.
Conversely, the Joan Baez version is good for the reasons that The Animals’ version doesn’t work, and it is bad for the reasons the Animals’ version does work. Baez released her version on her self-titled 1960 debut album, courtesy of Vanguard Records. Sparse, minimal, and haunting would be three words that would describe this rendition of “The House of the Rising Sun.” Since Baez is female, the song is sung as it was most often sung, by a woman telling the tragic story of her downfall into a life of whoredom. There’s very little instrumentation, just Joan, a guitar, and her singular voice.
It’s a tough decision. These two versions are quite different from each other. The Animals’ version is, obviously, far more pop and rock than Baez’s stripped-bare folk version.
But in the end, for me, there’s only one winner: Bob Dylan. No. I’m kidding. Joan Baez. Her voice makes my skin tingle and all the Vox Continental organ solos in the world won’t change. that.
Winner: Joan Baez