At the 1996 Astoria gig, Otway managed to pre-empt one of the additions that I had planned for these pages, by providing an idiot board for the audience participation section of "House Of The Rising Sun." I had intended to add a beginner's guide to the song, so that Otway virgins would have a chance to acquaint themselves with their lines before going to a gig. Otway's own reason for the idiot boards was that at the Astoria gig he included the "missing" verse, so needed to make sure that the audience knew what to shout.

Despite having my thunder stolen, I have decided to go ahead and include the script on these pages anyway - the bits in normal type are Otway's lines, the bits in italics are yours. Please note the notes (that's why they call them notes, you know) at the bottom.

Well there is,
What?
A house,
Where?
Down in New Orleans,
What's it called?
And they call it The Rising Sun.
What's it been?
And it's been the ruin of many a young boy,
How do you know?
And God, I know,
Who's a prat? (see note 1)
I'm one.

Tell us about your mother!
Well my mother, she was a tailor.
What did she sew?
She sewed my new blue jeans.
What about your dad?
My father was a gambling man,
Where?
Down in New Orleans.
What does a gambler need?
Well the only thing a gambler needs, is a suitcase,
And what else?
And a tronk.
What's a tronk?/That's two things! (see note 2)
And the only time he ever feels satisfied,
Is when he's all dronk.

1. Just to give credit where credit is due, the line "Who's a prat?" is a fairly recent addition to the song, first proposed by Michelle Laybourn and first interjected by Mark Crutch at a gig in Chesham, England, in about 1994.

2. There are two retorts listed for this line because both are in quite common use. The first, "What's a tronk?" is the elder of the two, and has been in common usage for at least as long as I've known about Otway. It currently tends to be used most towards the North of England, and in larger crowds. The second, "That's two things!" is a more recent addition, which tends to be used most down South amongst smaller audiences. I leave it up to your own good judgement as to which one to use on any given evening.

   Neil Greenway (who has his own Otway site) has made a claim for authorship of "That's two things". He says it was first interjected at one of John's earlier Astoria gigs (possibly the first). I was fairly certain that I'd heard it some time before then, but as I'm generally a bit pants at remembering anything, I'm perfectly happy to let Neil's claim stand... unless you want to challenge it...