An interesting way to look at history and how times have changed is to look at how music has changed. I want to use one specific example, the song “House of the Rising Sun”, to represent some ideas about music. “House of the Rising Sun” is a folk song that’s been covered by dozens of musicians and bands, but the most popular version was by the Animals, in 1964. The most important thing about this song is that each musician that covers it brings their own meaning to it. By changing the lyrics or context, the message and impact of the song can be completely changed.

The lyrics of the version by the Animals are from the point of view of a gambler whose life was ruined at a casino called the “Rising Sun”, in New Orleans, warning others to not make the same mistakes he did.

Another version of this song I want to compare it to is by the band Alt-J, which was released in 2017. This version is from the point of view of a child of a gambler whose life was ruined at that same casino. By changing only a few of the lyrics, the idea of the song has changed from one man’s actions to how those actions affect the people around him. It’s interesting to see the change in ideas from 1964 to 2017.

This song, or some of the lyrics from it, can also be used to represent the idea of music affecting social movements.

The first verse of this song was used in Green Day and U2’s cover of “The Saints are Coming,” a different song. They played The Saints are Coming at the reopening of the Superdome in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina. This verse, with the words “Rising Sun” changed to “Superdome”, took on an entirely new meaning about the suffering of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It became a message of support for them, instead of a song about one man’s ruined life.
It’s really interesting to see how one text is adapted to have different meanings and impacts as time passes, and music is a great example of this.