Like a moth drawn to a flame, the protagonist chooses to return to the “house” despite its’ evil.
“Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I’m goin’ back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain”
Yes! That is followed by the lines, “Oh, mothers, tell your children, not to do as I have done. Spend your life in sheer misery in the House of the Rising Sun.” It is, at root, a precautionary tale of a life tainted by sin.