"
The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional
folk song, sometimes called "
Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a life gone wrong in
New Orleans; many versions also urge a sibling to avoid the same fate. The most successful commercial version, recorded in 1964 by the British rock group the
Animals, was a number one hit on the
UK Singles Chart and also in the United States, Canada and Australia. The song has been described as the "first
folk-rock hit".