Here's What We Think The House Of The Rising Sun By Bob Dylan Means

The earliest written version of "The House of the Rising Sun" was in 1925, though the song was known as "Rising Sun" (per Polyphonic on YouTube). However, this was not the song's origin. The song is believed to have formed around the Appalachian area long before radio and it was performed by insular music communities and traveling performers, who would change lyrics and the arrangement as they saw fit. Because of this, the author of the song is lost to history.

The 1925 written version was performed from the perspective of a woman, while the oldest recorded version by Clarence "Tom" Ashley in 1933, is sung from a man's perspective. Ashley said he learned the song from his grandparents and said the song was "too old to talk about." Music historians theorize that the song's origins go as far back as the 16th century as a part of an archetype in English ballads. Musicologist Alan Lomax (pictured above) found a song from 1613, "Maddie Groves," very similar to "House of the Rising Sun."

Lomax is famous for recording folk and blues songs for the Library of Congress and in 1937, recorded a version of the Rising Sun featuring Georgia Turner. Per Polyphonic (via YouTube), her version tells of a woman returning to New Orleans after leaving her drunken man. In the 1860s, New Orleans had a restaurant and bar called "The Rising Sun." Still, Lomax or Turner did not credit the place as the origins.