The House Of The Rising Sun
Traditional – arrangement Brenda Wootton
Brenda’s selection of material for her concerts very much depended on her singing songs with which she felt comfortable, which appealed to her, and hopefully, to her audiences. Fairly obviously, her choices were very popular with audiences around the world – and although her love of Cornwall shone through every programme, audiences could also expect to be regaled with an eclectic range of songs incorporating bawdy humour, sensitive love songs, powerful spirituals, ballsy blues and punchy rock numbers.
Here is Brenda’s arrangement of “The House Of The Rising Sun”
There is a house in New Orleans, they call The Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor girl, and me, O Lord, am one.
Go tell my baby sister not to do what I have done,
But to shun that house in New Orleans they call The Rising Sun.
My mother was a tailor, she sewed those blue, blue jeans,
My father was a gambling man way down in New Orleans.
I got one foot on the platform and one foot on the train,
I’m going back to New Orleans, back to my ball and chain.
Yes, I’m going back to New Orleans, my race is almost run,
I’m going back, spend the rest of my days, beneath that Rising Sun
Sue Ellery-Hill Aug 2020