“There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
It’s been the ruin of many poor girls,
And me, O Lord, for one. . . .

One foot is one the platform,
The other one on the train,
I’m going back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain.”

—Rising Sun Blues, traditional, first recorded by bluesman Texas Alexander in 1928. Most commonly sung by men, including Bob Dylan and Eric Burden (of the Animals), the song is, ironically, a Storyville prostitute’s lament. As quoted (and explained) in Sustaining New Orleans: Literature, Local Memory, and the Fate of a City by Barbara Eckstein, 2006.