by Michael Rupp

Created on: January 17, 2009

HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN

The "House of the Rising Sun" is a classic of the British rock blues band, the Animals. Recorded in the 1960's, it remains popular today. What is less known is that the recording was an arrangement by the Animals, not an original composition. The song's roots go back much further, possibly even to English or Scottish folk songs. Multiple versions of lyrics exist for this song. Some were written from a male point of view, and some from a female point of view. The subject of the song, becoming lost in a life of sin and depravity, somehow touches people, whether they are depraved or not.

Perhaps it is because many of us become, in a way, lost in one thing or another during life. Some become lost in their work. Some become lot in playing video games. Some become lost in fitness and exercise. Whatever it is, and whether it is negative or positive in our lives, we become addicted to it. We may be able to control it, or it may end up consuming us. This might explain the enduring popularity of the "House of the Rising Sun," and why multiple versions of lyrics exist.

Increasingly, many of us are becoming lost in a few extra pounds. The news often details the emerging problems of increased weight and decreased fitness in our population. In a way, the extra calories become a "House of the Rising Sun." We don't need them, we don't want them, but they are just too hard to resist. Like the singer in the song, we wake up one day and find ourselves in a situation we didn't quite plan for. Perhaps the time for a new version of the "House of the Rising Sun" is upon us.

HOUSE OF THE THUNDER THIGHS

There is a house in my home town

Built for thunder thighs

It's been the fate of many a good boy

Once they reach a certain size

My mother was a fry cook

She liked to fry in fat

My father was a fat man

He even ate our cat

Now the only thing a fat man needs

Is a cheese steak in his mouth

And the only time that he is satisfied

Is when he's on the couch

Mothers tell your children

Not to super size

Or they'll end up hanging out with me

In the house of the thunder thighs

I've got one foot in the fat farm

The other foot's on the scale

I'm going down to my home town

To find some pizza on sale

There is a house in my home town

Built for thunder thighs

It's been the fate of many a good boy

Once they reach a certain size

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