Learn The Chords For House In New Orleans Today
- 01. House in New Orleans lyrics with chords: full version and explanation
- 02. Lyrics with chords (The Animals version)
- 03. Chord progression and key explained
- 04. Strumming pattern and tempo
- 05. Historical context and song origins
- 06. Meaning of the "House in New Orleans" lyrics
- 07. Common variations and alternate lyrics
- 08. How to practice "There Is a House in New Orleans" by yourself
- 09. Resources and further learning
House in New Orleans lyrics with chords: full version and explanation
When you search for "house in New Orleans lyrics with chords," you are almost certainly looking for the 1964 The Animals hit "There Is a House in New Orleans," better known as "House of the Rising Sun." The song is in the key of A minor, built around a descending arpeggio in the left hand (Am-C-D-F-Am-E), and typically strummed in 4/4 at about 110-120 BPM. Below is a complete, playable version of the lyrics with chord symbols above the lines, plus a breakdown of chord progression logic, strumming patterns, and historical context for SEO-friendly depth.
Lyrics with chords (The Animals version)
The standard verse-chorus structure of "There Is a House in New Orleans" follows this pattern, with vocal lines indented and chord symbols above:
Am C D F There is a house in New Orleans Am C E They call the Rising Sun Am C D F And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy Am E Am E And God, I know I'm one. Am C D F My mother was a tailor Am C E She sewed my new blue jeans Am C D F My father was a gamblin' man Am E Am E Down in New Orleans. Am C D F Now the only thing a gambler needs Am C E Is a suitcase and a trunk Am C D F And the only time he's satisfied Am E Am _manual Is when he's on a drunk. Am C D F Oh, mother tell your children Am C E Not to do what I have done Am C D F Spend your lives in sin and misery Am E Am E In the House of the Rising Sun. Am C D F Well, I've got one foot on the platform Am C E The other foot on the train Am C D F I'm goin' back to New Orleans Am E Am To wear that ball and chain. Am C D F There is a house in New Orleans Am C E They call the Rising Sun Am C D F And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy Am E Am E And God, I know I'm one.
Each verse and chorus repeats the same Am-C-D-F-Am-E-Am-E progression, which makes it easy to learn and memorize for beginners. The final line of the last verse often fades out with a repeated Am-E-Am-Dm vamp, as heard on the original 1964 recording.
Chord progression and key explained
The entire harmonic structure of "There Is a House in New Orleans" lives in A minor, with the chords Am (i), C (III), D (iv), F (VI), and E (VII). This creates a modal, slightly ominous flavor that fits the song's dark narrative about a ruinous house in New Orleans. The descending bass line (A-C-D-F-A-E) in the left-hand pattern is what gives the song its instantly recognizable feel on both guitar and Hammond organ.
Here is a simplified chord table showing how each major chord functions in the key of A minor:
| Chord Symbol | Scale Degree | Function in A minor |
|---|---|---|
| Am | i | Tonic (home chord) |
| C | III | Major mediant, adds brightness |
| D | iv | Subdominant minor, dark pull |
| F | VI | Sub-mediant, transitional color |
| E | VII | Leading chord, strong return to Am |
Because the progression never clearly lands on a dominant V-i cadence, the harmonic tension feels unresolved, mirroring the lyric's theme of a never-ending fall. This is one reason the song became so effective on radio and in live sets.
Strumming pattern and tempo
The standard strumming pattern for "There Is a House in New Orleans" is a steady quarter-note arpeggio with a slight swing, often written as "down-down-up-down-up" in 4/4. In practice, many guitarists simplify the pattern to a straight downstroke on each chord change, which matches the Hammond-organ line of the original Animals cut. The original recording clocks in at about 116 BPM, with the organ and guitar locked into a tight rhythmic lock.
- Strum each chord on the downbeat (1-2-3-4) for basic play-along.
- Add a slight accent on beats 2 and 4 to emulate the rock-shuffle feel.
- Use a palm-mute on the low-E string during transitions to tighten the sound.
- Repeat the Am-E-Am-E vamp at the end of the last verse to mirror the fade-out.
This repeatable pattern works for both nylon and steel-string guitars, and can be slowed to 80-90 BPM for practice without losing the song's essential groove.
Historical context and song origins
The phrase "house in New Orleans" entered mainstream culture through the The Animals version, released in the UK in May 1964 and in the US in June 1964. The recording, produced by Mickie Most, spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1964 and has since sold over 3 million copies worldwide, making it one of the top-selling singles of the 1960s. Its eerie, Hammond-driven arrangement helped define the "British Invasion" sound alongside early Beatles and Rolling Stones material.
However, the song itself predates the Animals by decades. Musicologists trace "House of the Rising Sun" back to traditional American folk and Appalachian ballads from the early 1900s, with field recordings by Alan Lomax and others in the 1930s and 1940s. The earliest known recorded version is by Appalachian singer Clarence "Tom" Ashley in 1933, and later covers by Bob Dylan (1961) and Dave Van Ronk cemented its reputation as a folk-to-rock standard.
Meaning of the "House in New Orleans" lyrics
The core ambiguity of the house in New Orleans is whether it portrays a brothel, gambling den, or prison. The lyric "And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy / And God, I know I'm one" suggests a place of moral and financial ruin, typically associated with a brothel or underground gambling parlor in the historic French Quarter. The narrator's father, described as a "gamblin' man down in New Orleans," further reinforces the gambling-house interpretation.
- Line: "Spend your lives in sin and misery / In the House of the Rising Sun" implies a morally corrupt institution.
- Line: "I'm goin' back to New Orleans / To wear that ball and chain" evokes incarceration or lifelong entrapment.
- The line "It's been the ruin of many a poor boy" appears in nearly every major cover, including those by Bob Dylan and The Platters, creating a consistent thematic anchor.
Scholars of early 20th-century New Orleans culture have long debated whether the song refers to a specific brothel associated with the "Rising Sun" name, but no definitive historical building has been confirmed. The phrase endures as a metaphor for any place that promises pleasure but delivers ruin.
Common variations and alternate lyrics
Because "House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song, multiple lyric variants exist across decades. Some versions replace "poor boy" with "poor girl," shifting the narrative to a female protagonist; others alternate "Father" and "Mother" between verses. The Bob Dylan version, for example, changes "My mother was a tailor / She sewed my new blue jeans" into a slightly different set of lines while preserving the core house-in-New-Orleans refrain.
One particularly striking alternate version, recorded by modern folk-blues artists, replaces "gamblin' man" with "drinkin' man" to emphasize alcohol-related ruin, a subtle but meaningful shift in moral focus. These variants are often captured in chord-sheet databases such as Ultimate-Guitar and Chordie, which host over 200 distinct transcriptions of "House of the Rising Sun" titles.
Despite the variants, the chord progression remains remarkably consistent: Am-C-D-F-Am-E-Am-E is reused in nearly every major recording, from Bob Dylan's 1961 rendition on the "Bob Dylan" debut album to later versions by The Platters and contemporary folk acts. This harmonic stability makes the song ideal for learners who want to experiment with different lyric sets while keeping the same chord skeleton.
How to practice "There Is a House in New Orleans" by yourself
If you are learning the song from scratch, the most efficient route is to separate chord changes from strumming in the first round of practice. Start by playing the progression in time with a metronome at 60 BPM, focusing only on clean transitions between Am, C, D, F, and E. Once you can change chords smoothly, add a simple downstroke on each beat and gradually increase the tempo toward the original 110-120 BPM range.
- Play the first four chords (Am-C-D-F) four times in a loop, then add E-Am-E twice.
- Sing the first two lines of the verse ("There is a house in New Orleans / They call the Rising Sun") while maintaining even downstrokes.
- Repeat the same pattern for the next verse ("My mother was a tailor...") until the transitions feel automatic.
- Loop the fade-out vamp (Am-E-Am-Dm) while listening to the Animals' recording to internalize the phrasing.
This incremental approach is widely recommended by guitar educators and has been shown in several online teaching surveys to cut learning time for chord-heavy folk-rock songs by roughly 30-40% when compared with attempting full songs at full tempo.
Resources and further learning
For deeper technical work, tablature sites such as Ultimate-Guitar host over 150 different House of the Rising Sun arrangements, including lead-guitar, organ, and ukulele versions. Academic work on the song's history appears in journals such as the Journal of American Folklore, where scholars have documented early field recordings and variant lyrics dating back to the 1930s. Modern educators also recommend pairing the song with short studies on 12-bar blues progressions, as both styles rely on strong, repetitive chord-change patterns.
By mastering the core Am-C-D-F-Am-E progression and the lyrics of "There Is a House in New Orleans," you gain not only a classic song but also a practical template for many other folk-and-rock standards built on simple, repeating chord cycles.
What are the most common questions about Learn The Chords For House In New Orleans Today?
What key is "There Is a House in New Orleans" in?
"There Is a House in New Orleans" is primarily in the key of A minor, with the main chords being Am, C, D, F, and E. The song avoids a strong dominant V-i cadence, instead relying on the modal Am-C-D-F-Am-E progression to create its haunting, unresolved feel.
What are the chords for the chorus of "House of the Rising Sun"?
The chorus uses the same four-chord phrase as the verses: Am-C-D-F for the first two lines, then Am-E-Am-E for the final two lines. The progression "Am-C-D-F-Am-E-Am-E" repeats for every chorused line such as "There is a house in New Orleans / They call the Rising Sun."
Can I play this song on ukulele or keyboard?
Yes; "There Is a House in New Orleans" adapts easily to both ukulele and keyboard. On ukulele, use the same relative chord shapes (Am≡Am, C≡C, D≡D, F≡F, E≡E) but capo friendly voicings to fit the instrument's range. On keyboard, the left-hand descending pattern (A-C-D-F-A-E) is almost identical to the original Hammond-organ line, making it ideal for piano or organ practice.
Why is this song associated with New Orleans?
The song is linked to New Orleans** because its lyrics explicitly place the "house in New Orleans" in the city's historic French Quarter, a district long associated with gambling, vice, and nightlife. The phrase "House of the Rising Sun" has become a cultural shorthand for any place in New Orleans where pleasure turns destructive, even though no definitive historical building has been tied to the name.
What tempo and time signature should I use?
The Animals' original "House of the Rising Sun" is in 4/4 time at approximately 116 BPM. For practice, many teachers recommend starting at 80-90 BPM and working up to the original tempo, which preserves the song's rock-folk drive while giving beginners breathing room for chord changes.