I sometimes perform a version of House of the Rising Sun under the title House of the Waning Moon with the following lyrics.

The House of the Waning Moon

1. There is a place in this old town The university It’s been the ruin of many a rich girl And one of them was me

2. I remember in my freshman year A boy I chanced to meet He loved me like a hurricane And swept me off my feet

3. We loved until the days were months My happiest ever time The only thing I ever wanted Is a love like his and mine

4. But we had a falling out A thing that’s not so rare And parted for our separate ways I left him then and there

5. I fell in with the rebel crowd Who turned me against men Their politics were fuelled by hate But I couldn’t see that then

6. So I put in all my work on time And got a good degree And used it to get a foot in the door Of a blue chip company

7. And for twenty years I chased the goal Of a director’s Salary And I told myself that men were scared Of successful girls like me

8. I heard after I left him there He found his perfect match And lives with a village girl in Peru In a house of mud and thatch

9. He makes his living with his hands Fashioning fine things And though they’re poor, his family Live like queens and kings

10. They owe nothing to any man And live no modern lies They pay no dues to anyone And profit from their days

11. I only wish that he’d take me back But I know we both moved on Too far to walk the fresher’s track And catch a love that’s gone

Bridge or key change

1. And now my life is halfway through And I was happy at the start All the wealth and power I’ve achieved Have bought an empty heart

2. I need to find a suitable man Better off than I But at my age there’s little chance Of finding such a guy

3. So tell my sisters and my friends Not to do the same as me And to stay away from that house of lies The university