House of the Rising Sun (Traditional / Reimagined)

[Intro – instrumental] [Verse 1] [Lead: male bari-tenor, smoky Appalachian twang; intimate, weary storytelling with restrained blues grit.] There is a house in New Orleans they call the Rising Sun And it's been the ruin of many a poor soul, I'm one I walked through those doors when I was young and blind Chasing after fortune, leaving sense behind The city had a way of making promises at night Every corner held a shadow, every window held a light I thought I could walk away whenever I chose But every road I traveled somehow brought me close [Rap 1] [Spoken-rap: low, measured Southern cadence; dark and cinematic.] Midnight shadows on Bourbon Street, footsteps slow Every turn I make, I feel the undertow Sin and sorrow, they hang in the air Rising Sun calls me, can't escape the snare [Lead: quiet.] Can't escape the snare... [Verse 2] [Lead: deeper emotional weight, conversational phrasing.] My mother was a tailor, she sewed my new bluejeans My father was a gamblin' man, he lived between the dreams He taught me how a card can turn a poor man rich And how the same damn hand can leave you in a ditch I walked these streets haunted by what I'd done Carrying every shadow underneath the Rising Sun I tried to change my fortune, tried to change my name But you can't outrun the fire by pretending you're not burned [Rap 2] [Spoken-rap: tighter rhythm, restrained intensity.] Cards on the table, stakes higher than the sky Every roll of the dice, another reason why House of the Rising Sun, stories carved in stone Walking through the night, I face it all alone [Lead: low, almost spoken.] All alone... [Chorus] [Lead: full, soulful delivery; dark but emotionally open.] Oh mother, tell your children not to do what I've done Spend your lives in darkness under the Rising Sun Don't trade your soul for promises that glitter in the night Some doors look like freedom till they swallow up your light [Harmony: restrained low harmony on “what I've done” and “Rising Sun.”] [Lead: building.] I can hear that old house breathing when the evening starts to fall Every broken promise sleeping somewhere in its walls And if I ever make it past that shadow on the street I'll carry every lesson from the darkness underneath [Instrumental Break] [Fiddle: mournful minor-key lead.] [Resonator: answering blues slides.] [Mandolin: restrained la pompe continues beneath them.] [Outro] [Lead: quieter, reflective; no melodrama.] So if you see me walking when the morning starts to rise Don't ask me where I'm going, I've already paid the price The Rising Sun behind me, the long road lies ahead Some lessons follow living, some follow with the dead [Lead: soft, fading.] There is a house in New Orleans... They call the Rising Sun... [Resonator: final descending slide.]