There is a house in New Orleans They call the rising sun And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy And God, I know I'm one My mother was a tailor She sewed my new blue jeans And my daddy was a gamblin' man down in New Orleans The only thing a gambler needs is a suitcase and this trunk And the only time he's satisfied is when he's on the run Oh mother, tell your children not to do what I have done Spend your lives in sin and misery in the house of the rising sun Well, I got one foot on the platform and got the other on the train And I'm goin' back to New Orleans To wear that ball and chain 'Cause there is a house in New Orleans They call the rising sun And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy And God, I know I'm one