Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Mar 10 - 09:19 AM

Looking for any mention of this game, and came across this! Now I know I'm not just imaganing that I played this game as a child! Thanks!

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 12:47 PM

Beeds, you're referring to my post written 13 Jul 06 - 09:21 PM {which seems like a thousand years ago, btw, given how much has happened in the world}.

And though I wrote that post, I didn't make that guess about the words that Blind Lemon Jefferson was singing in that recording. That transcription was found on the website whose link I posted.

Fwiw, your idea about what was sung makes more sense to me than those words that were provided by whoever transcribed that song on that website.

Thanks for sharing your idea about that song's lyrics.

Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Beeds
Date: 11 Oct 08 - 04:19 PM

Azizi writes, way up about halfway down the thread, in Black Snake Moan that 'most seen all you do', is a best guess.
I've always heard it as 'mos' any ol' way you do'.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: RobbieWilson
Date: 19 Sep 06 - 06:39 AM

Fleetwood Mac did Rattlesnake shake, but I don't really think it's about a snake:
"I know this guy, his name is Mick,
he don't care when he ain't got no chick
he do the shake, the rattlesnake shake"

Then there's the famous lampton wo'm, I dont think that's really a worm

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,oldhippie
Date: 18 Sep 06 - 08:33 PM

"Snakes" - Susan McKeown

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,KenBrock
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 07:20 PM

"Trust in Me (The Python Song)" by the Sherman Brothers from Dissney's Jungle Book (1968)

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Mudlark
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 06:31 PM

Ray Wiley Hubbard"s "The Snake Farm" (not for kids!)
Chorus:
Snake farm......sounds kinda nasty
Snake farm....pretty much is
Snake farm....rep-tiles
Snake farm...errrrrrgggghhh!

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Susan of DT
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 05:44 PM

All these posts and no one mentioned the kids' game Rattlesnake: a bunch of kids join hands and run around the room in a slithery line chanting:
R-A-T, T-L-E, S-N-A-K-E spells rattlesnake (repeat as often as necessary)

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: KenBrock
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 05:18 PM

Donovan Leitch had a song circa 1971 called "Riki Tiki Tavi" saying that since the mongoose had gone away, you would have to kill your own snakes.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: muppett
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 11:33 AM

the Green & yeller song mentions snakes, you know the one with the chorus;
'Oh mother be quick I want to be sick and lay me down t' die'

I'll let you have the full words tomorrow, as I've to dash for my train now.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 07 Sep 06 - 01:54 AM

the wind that snakes the barley
snaking all over

Subject: Lyr Add: COTTON MOUTH (Seals & Crofts)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:24 PM

The Cottonmouth Water Moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus)isNorth America's only poisonous water snake. It is a pit viper like the rattlesnake - raredance



COTTON MOUTH
(lyrics by James Seals; music by James Seals & Dash Crofts, 1971)
From the albums DOWN HOME (1970) and SEALS AND CROFTS I AND II (1974).
Covered by the Doobie Brothers on 1972's Toulouse Streetlp.


Red eyed mama keeps cryin'. Blue-eyed cat keeps a-lyin'.
Catfish keeps his eye on the string. Cotton mouth keeps on windin'.
Sing, sing, sing.
Dark moon keep on hidin'.'Gator he keeps on slidin'.
Bullfrog he ain't mindin'. Cotton mouth keeps on windin'.
Sing, sing, sing.
Lightnin' bugs in bottles, give me all the light I need.
Seein' bait for linin'. Cotton mouth keep on windin'.
Sing, sing, sing.
Big iron pot's a-boilin'. Red-eyed mama's a-toilin'.
Crawdad meat's for dinin'. Cotton mouth keep on windin.'
Sing, sing, sing.

Subject: Lyr Add: MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS (Dylan)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:15 PM

This song never names the snake, but he is definitely present

MAN GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS - Bob Dylan
First Release
Slow Train Coming
1979




Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning.
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago.

He saw an animal that liked to growl,
Big furry paws and he liked to howl,
Great big furry back and furry hair.
"Ah, think I'll call it a bear."

Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning.
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago.

He saw an animal up on a hill
Chewing up so much grass until she was filled.
He saw milk comin' out but he didn't know how.
"Ah, think I'll call it a cow."

Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning.
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago.

He saw an animal that liked to snort,
Horns on his head and they weren't too short.
It looked like there wasn't nothin' that he couldn't pull.
"Ah, think I'll call it a bull."

Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning.
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago.

He saw an animal leavin' a muddy trail,
Real dirty face and a curly tail.
He wasn't too small and he wasn't too big.
"Ah, think I'll call it a pig."

Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning.
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago.

Next animal that he did meet
Had wool on his back and hooves on his feet,
Eating grass on a mountainside so steep.
"Ah, think I'll call it a sheep."

Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, in the beginning.
Man gave names to all the animals
In the beginning, long time ago.

He saw an animal as smooth as glass
Slithering his way through the grass.
Saw him disappear by a tree near a lake . . .


Copyright © 1979 Special Rider Music

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:13 PM

Welcome, raredance!

Thanks for the examples.

{I'm assuming that raredance is your screen name. If so, it's a great name!}

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:09 PM

I'm old but not too hip(pie)

raredance

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ORIGIN OF THE SNAKE (from Talley)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 11:07 PM

THE ORIGIN OF THE SNAKE

Up de hill an' down de level!
Up de hill an' down de level!
Granny's puppy treed de Devil.

Puppy howl, an' Devil shake!
Puppy howl, an' Devil shake!
Devil leave, an' dere's yo'snake.

Mash his head; de sun shine bright!
Mash his head; de sun shine bright!
Tail don't die ontel it's night.

Night come on, an' sperits groan!
Night come on, an' sperits groan!
Devil come an' gits his own.

from: Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:51 PM

Is Guest- 06 Sep 06 - 10:47 PM the same person as GUEST,oldhippie - 06 Sep 06 - 10:30 PM?

Thanks for posting that example, Guest, if you are or if you aren't an old hippie [or that particular old hippie].

:o)

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:47 PM

Rattlesnake, Oh rattlesnake, what makes your teeth so white?
I been laying in the sun sodarn long,
You're lucky I don't bite, lucky I don't bite.


verse from "Muskrat, Oh Muskrat"

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:45 PM

Guestoldhippie, here's your hyperlink:
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/08/09/list-of-the-day-snake-songs/

-snip-

And check out this excerpt from that RollingStone Magazine article:

[list'...Any song that mentions snakes, uses a snake metaphor, or alludes to snakes is eligible — we're not limiting it to merely songs that include the word 'snake' or a snake-ish reference in the title. We'll show you ours if you show us yours.

Lloyd Cole, "Rattlesnakes"
Duran Duran, "Union Of The Snake"
Aerosmith, "Rattlesnake Shake"
REM, "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight"
Paula Abdul, "Cold Hearted Snake"
ELO, "Don't Bring Me Down"
Pavement, "Serpentine Pad"
The Doors, "The End"
PJ Harvey, "Snake"
Bow Wow Wow, "Where's My Snake" "
-snip-

So Guest, I'll repeat that last sentence from that excerpt I quoted: "We'll show you ours [our list]if you show us yours [your list]".

That means that your statement that its' "Already been done before" is not totally true, wouldn't you say? The concept. Yes. The entries in the list. No.

Surely an old hippie like yourself knows a snake song or two that you could share with us or maybe you added your examples to that RollingStone list.

Whatever rocks your world...

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,oldhippie
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:30 PM

Already been done before.....


http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/08/09/list-of-the-day-snake-songs/

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 10:17 PM

The snake baked a hoecake and set the frog to watch it.
The frog fell a-dozing, and the lizard came and took it,
"Bring back my hoecake, you long tailed nanny-o"

from "The Fireside Song Book of Birds and Beasts" 1972

Subject: Lyr Req: BLACK SNAKE SHAKIES
From: Azizi
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 09:11 PM

I found this song thanks to the Guest who posted information about this website http://www.erikdarling.com/child_cd.html on the Mudcat RE: Hill and Gully Riders - is there such a song? thread:

BLACK SNAKE SHAKIES
Chorus:
Black snake shakies,
Loose-tail dogs,
Alligators gatin',
They's messin' with the frogs.
The owl is on the rooftop,
Quiet as the dark--
Take it easy, Mama,
When the bulldogs bark.

Bobby was a preacher,
He thought he got it right,
But what he told his people
Got 'em way up tight.
They couldn't love their neighbors,
And they couldn't love their lives,
They couldn't love their children
And they couldn't love their wives.

Give it all you got,
Even raise it to the sky,
You could get to heaven, love,
Before you die;
God is in the pulpit,
Sending down the light,
Whisperin' to everyone,
To help 'em get it right.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Alba
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 12:10 PM

Oh yes Genie.
A Parody Thread about Reptiles would be cool.
It could well end up as one for the Hissssss...story Books...!!!

sorry..:)
Jude

Subject: Python eats electric blanket
From: Genie
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 12:04 PM

Do I hear a new Song Challenge there?

Just post it as a new thread and I'm sure a host o' parodists (par-adders) will come a-slitherin'.

Genie

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 05:49 AM

There ought to be a song in this...

Python eats electric blanket

Subject: Lyr Add: CAPTAIN BEAKY
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 20 Jul 06 - 04:49 AM

Captain Beaky

The bravest animals in the land are Captain Beaky and his band
That's Timid Toad, Reckless Rat, Artful Owl and Batty Bat
They march through the woodlands singing songs
That tell how they have righted wrongs

Once Hissing Sid, an evil snake, kept the woodland folk awake
In fear and trembling every night
In case he gave someone a bite
Said Artful Owl, 'We'll lie in wait
And one of us will be the bait."
Said Captain Beaky, "Have no fear! For I alone will volunteer!"

"No, make it me!" Said Reckless Rat
I'll stand there in my reckless hat
When Hissing Sid picks up my trail,
I'll just lasso him with my tail!"

"Oh, good idea" said Timid Toad, "We'll hide a long way down the road.
And when you've overcome resistance,
We'll rush along to your assistance."

Said Batty Bat, "I've got a wheeze!
I'll fly and hide up in the trees!
If Hissing Sid should slither by
I'll drop a boulder from the sky!"

Said Artful Owl, "The idea sound…how will you lift it off the ground?"
Poor Batty Bat just scratched his head,
"I hadn't thought of that," he said.

Said Owl, "The rest of us hold back. There's only one that he'll attack."
Said Timid Toad, "I like your plan."
"Good luck," said Owl, "For you're the man!"

So Timid Toad, his eyes a-popping,
Into the woodland night went hopping
Captain Beaky waved his hand, followed by his trusty band
That's Artful Owl and Reckless Rat, and above the trees flew Batty Bat.

"Stop!" Said Beaky, "I hear squeaking!"
"It's Batty Bat" said Owl, "He's speaking!"
"It's all in code," said Reckless Rat
Said Owl, "I'll just decipher that."

"A dash, a dot, two short, two long…
I rather think we've got it wrong.
It reads 'can clearly see the road,
Hissing Sid has captured Toad!'"

"Quick men!" said Beaky, "No delay!
"You mustn't let him get away!"
And leaping off, said "Follow me!"
And ran head first into a tree.

"Dot dot dot" squeaked Batty Bat.
Said Beaky, "Quick! Decipher that!"
Said Reckless Rat, "Perhaps we're gaining?"
"No," said Owl. "He says…it's raining"

Oh, how they ran to save poor Toad,
For they must find that snake's abode
Guided by old Batty Bat
Dot dot go this way dash, go that!

Then Hissing Sid's lair they spied
Were they too late? Was he inside?
Said Reckless Rat, "I'll get a pole
And stop him going down his hole!"

Then into sight the snake came hopping,
Right past his hole, no sign of stopping
Said Reckless Rat, "That's rather funny,
"There's something jumping in his tummy."

Said Captain Beaky, "Well I'm blowed!
Hissing Sid has swallowed Toad!"
And as the snake hopped out of sight,
Off they chased into the night.

At last they found him, tired and dizzy
And pulled out Toad, who said "Where is he?
For left alone, I felt quite sick,
And hopped into a hollow stick

Said Owl, "A clever step to take!
You jumped into that slippery snake."
"That was brave of Toad", said Rat
"That's just my sort of plan!" said Bat

Said Captain Beaky to his men,
"Well we'll not see Hissing Sid again!"
And as they marched off down the road,
They sang in praise of Timid Toad

Above them flew ol' Batty Bat,
With his wings stretched out, like that
Owl's idea, the clever fella
To have a flying um-ber-ella

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: coldjam
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 07:36 PM

Jim Staffords's "I don't like Spiders and Snakes" leapt immediately to mind. "This frog's for you" is one of the best pick up lines ever!

I remember when Mary Lou said
"You wanna walk me home from school"
And I said, "Yes, I do"
She said, "I don't have to go right home
And I'm the kind that likes to be alone
As long as you would"
I said, "Me, too"

And so we took a stroll
Wound up down by the swimmin' hole
And she said, "Do what you want to do"
I got silly and I found a frog
In the water by a hollow log
And I shook it at her
And I said "This frog's for you"

She said, "I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
Like I want to be loved by you"

Well, I think of that girl from time to time
I call her up when I got a dime
I say, "Hello, baby"
She says, "Ain't you cool"
I say, "Do you remember when
"And would you like to get together again"
She says, "I'll see you after school"

I was shy and so for a while
Most of my love was touch and smile
Til she said, "Come on over here"
I was nervous as you might guess
Still looking for somethin' to slip down her dress
And she said, "Let's make it perfectly clear"

She said, "I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don't like spiders and snakes
And that ain't what it takes to love me
Like I want to be loved by you

Subject: Lyr Add: BIG JIM
From: Bill D
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 05:33 PM

here's a close one....and it 'refers' to snakes.. *grin*

A famous Scottish Angling Club
Arranged to hold a match
(With) five pounds offered as the prize
To him with the biggest catch.
Len Riley said, "For catching fish,
Good bait is what you need,"
And so he set to work at once
Big worms to try to breed.

CHORUS:
Big Jim was a worm, was a great big worm,
Was a great big, bright red, bloody red worm,
Large and fat, just like a picture,
Crossed with an eel and a boa constrictor.
Fed him on whiskey, made him feel frisky,
Pies and a pint or two.
Big Jim was a worm, was a great big worm,
Was a great big, beautiful, bloody red worm.

He fed his pets on powdered milk,
Baby food and whiskey,
And as the great day grew near,
They grew fat and frisky.
His favorite pet he called Big Jim.
He really was a picture.
He looked just like a conger eel
You'd crossed with a boa constrictor.

The day arrived, the places drawn,
And so the fishing started.
It was a sin to puncture Jim
And Lee was broken hearted;
But that five pound note it must be won,
He'd promised to his daughter,
And so the dirty deed was done,
And Jim thrown in the water.

Some caught perch; some caught bream;
Some caught rainbow trout;
Some caught eels; one caught seals;
Most of them caught nowt;
But Len he waited patiently
To get a chance to work,
When all at once his float did sink
And gave his rod a jerk.

Well, that fight went on for hours and hours.
Len couldn't quench his thirst,
But Big Jim being the worm he was,
That fish surrendered first.
At once the judge came running up
And with him brought his scales.
He saw the fish, said, "Throw it back.
We're not accepting whales!"

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 04:36 PM

Regarding the genie/neighbor/boy/etc with the ten-foot weenie who showed it to the lady/neighbor/etc next door, I have always assumed that it was American, since it seems to be a parody of "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair" by Stephen Foster.

Regarding the question about the "Mother of Bees" and snakes? A possible interpretation: The Biblical devil Beelzebub is the "Lord of Flies" (bees?). The name evidently is a (deliberate???) mis-translation or mis-pronunciation of the contemporary god Baal-Zebul (roughly "High God of Zebul" [a place].

Very much off the top of my head here. I have no backup for either idea.

BB,

NightWing

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Genie
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 01:57 PM

I guess we have come full circle, Bill D.   Of course, that's easy for a snake. ;)

This Johnny Rivers site lists "The Snake" as being by Oscar Brown, Jr., but I don't know if they meant to say he wrote it. Or, if they did, that they are correct.

http://www.johnnyriversfanclub.com/lyrics/snake.htm

They have that pesky word as "comforter," instead of "coverture."

"...
She wrapped him up all cozy
in a comforter of silk
and then laid him by the fireside
with some honey and some milk.
... "


There's another song I remember, sung by Harry Belafonte, called "Man Smart, Woman Smarter," which has a verse about Adam and Eve in the Garden Of Eden.

"...
Garden of Eden was very nice,
Adam never work in Paradise.
Eve meet snake, Paradise gone -
She make Adam work from that day on.
..."

Harry Belafonte lyrics: Man Smart (Woman Smarter)

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Kenneth Ingham
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 05:00 AM

It's on the bootleg "Don At The Palace"

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: cockney
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 04:58 AM

He missed out:

See the snow - count the flakes
Keeps my mind off the snakes
Women cause me cold heartaches
Keep my eye out for the snakes

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Sliding Down The Bannister At My Auntie's House
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 04:54 AM

Trini Lopez? You gotta be joking. It was definitely done by beefheart but I think mindblaster has got some of the lyrics wrong.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Hoodlum
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 04:52 AM

I've got it by Trini Lopez

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Kenneth Ingham
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 04:51 AM

I've heard that song before somewhere - who was it Captain Beefheart?

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: mindblaster
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 04:48 AM

I like to watch the baker as he bakes
Keeps mind off the snakes
My mum said I've got what it takes
To keep my mind off the snakes

Go up north - see the lakes
Keeps your mind off the snakes
Buy Van Gough beware of fakes
Keep an eye out for the snakes

Drive a car, test the brakes
Keep an eye out for the snakes
Computer vision must take breaks
So you can watch out for the snakes

Getting old how my back aches
Keeps my mind off the snakes
Eat cream buns and lots of cakes
Keeps my mind off the snakes

Kill vampires with sharpened stakes
Keep your eye out for the snakes
Too much drink, I've got the shakes
All I see is crawling snakes!

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 09:30 PM

I mentioned Fod about twenty posts back.
great seeing the words though Charly Noble, thankyou for posting them.
I remember seeing in the encylcopadia of folk music a letter from Peggy Seeger when she was a little girl requesting Earl Scruggs to play Fod as a request on the radio.

Subject: Lyr Add: LARUE THE SNAKE
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 04:34 PM

From my kids' CD.

LARUE THE SNAKE (The Slither Song)   George Wurzbach

There once was a snake named Larue,
The only way he knew to get here and there
Was slither, slither,
All Larue knew how to do was slither.

One day Larue saw a bird,
He wondered just how in the world
Is it birds can go flying, flying,
He slithers below while they go about flying.

And Larue told the bird:
"You must truly be God's favorite creature.
To be able to fly up so high where no one can reach you.
And the snake in the grass is surely the lowliest creature.
And I mustn't matter, 'cause I only slither, slither.
Look how you fly while I only slither.

The bird took Larue in his claws,
And gently he lifted and soared through the sky,
They were flying, flying,
Before Larue knew it, the bird had him flying.

And the bird told Larue,
" You were there on the Ark with Noah;
If God had thought less of you, you'd have been left on the shore.
And here in the Kingdom there is no higher or lower,
Though I'm able to fly it's just my way to slither, slither,
And I slith when I fly, and you fly when you slither."

Larue thanked the bird for the flight,
Said "Goodnight," and turned with delight
As he started to slither, slither,
And Larue seemed to fly through the grass as he slithered.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 09:37 AM

I always end up making the last post on threads like these but here's a couple of comments.

First I was interested in the field song "Johnny Boker" that Azizi had noted, which is a clear precursor to the traditional sea shanty "Johnny Boker" having a similar chorus and tune.

Second, no one, I believe, has mentioned "Fod," a possible variant of "Springfield Mountain":

1. As I went down to the mowin' field,
Hu-rye, tu-rye, fod-a-link-a-dye-do
As I went down to the mowin' field, Fod!
Well, as I went down to the mowin' field,
A big black snake took me by the heel,
Tu-rolly-day.


2. I fell down upon the ground, (3 times)
I closed my eyes and I looked all around.

3. I climbed upon a stump to take my rest, (3)
And I looked like a woodchuck a-sitting on a nest.

4. I set down to sing this song (3)
'Long came a raccoon with his britches on.

5. The woodchuck grinned a banjo song (3)
And along came a skunk with his britches on.

6. Well, the woodchuck and skunk got into a fight, (3)
And the fumes so high they put out the light.

As sung by Frank Warner on OUR SINGING HERITAGE, Vol. III, © 1958

Collected and recorded by Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin from Henry King in Visalia, California for the Library of Congress in 1941.

My mother composed a poem some time in the early 1960's about a pet snake:

PET SNAKE

If I had a pet snake one hundred feet long and he died,
I would dig a trench one hundred feet long but not very wide
To bury him in.

Unless I could coil him up like a length of rope
But I couldn't do that if rigor mortis set in.
So, unless I chopped him all up in short pieces
(And I'd hate to do that)
I'd have to dig a long trench
And bury him in a long grave
One hundred feet long.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jul 06 - 06:55 AM

See the lyrics to this Bo Diddley song and my guesses about what the lyrics may mean:

Lyrics to "Who Do You Love"

Azizi: Guesses about the meaning of lyrics in "Who Do You Love"

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Alba
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:13 PM

Ain't that a Truth Elmer...!!
Jude:)

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: pdq
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:07 PM

Woody Guthrie did one with (very roughly) "a rattle come a rake, a rattle come a snake". Not sure about title or anything else about it.

Grampa Jones' "Old Rattler" is about a dog.

Bill Clifton's "Jumpin' Old Rattler" is about a train.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:04 PM

And just for fun, here's a parody of "Pina Colada" that is called Vicious Snake (The Pit Viper Song)"

Enjoy!

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:00 PM

Hey Jude,

We're all just tiny, imperfect links in an essentially oral song tradition!

Elmer

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 08:59 PM

Here's a Zulu {South Africa} children's chant that mentions the snake among other creatures:

Walking Through Africa

Walking through Africa, what do I see?
I can see inyoka looking at me.
Walking through Africa, what do I see?
I can see ufudu looking at me.
Walking through Africa, what do I see?
I can see indlovu looking at me.
Walking through Africa, what do I see?
I can see ikhozi looking at me.

note: This is a Zulu chant the children "sing" while they stalk about. The translation would probably be closer to "walking through the bush...," but my children love to say Africa. I've translated all the words but the animals. These are as follows:

inyoka (een-yoh'-gkah) a snake
ufudu (oo-foo'-doo) a tortoise, /oo/ as in fool
indlovu (een-dloh'-voo) an elephant
ikhozi (ee-koh'zee) an eagle

CanTeach: African Songs, Chants, and Games

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 08:46 PM

Is anyone here of Latvian descent or knows the cultural significance of bees or snakes in the context of this Latvian folk song?

Latvian Folk Songs about Snakes

A black snake slithered
Into my bee garden;
That wasn't just a big black snake
That was the Mother of the Bees.

http://www.angelfire.com/al2/LatvianStuff/Songssnakes.html

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Alba
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 03:19 PM

Thanks a lot Elmer. We were both right...Thanks for giving me an earworm! I hope I can do the same for you sometime **smile**

There is another Thread about a very similiar subject already on the go so things are getting a bit....well, confusing.
Someone has posted a version of "The Snake" on that thread, seen here: Clickity click! with slightly different lyrics but basically the same Song only now there would seem to be conflicting info as to who wrote it! sigh

Nothing like getting a good old Jumble up going eh!
Thank again, my Best to You Elmer,
Jude

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 02:50 PM

Alba, here are the lyrics to "The Snake Song," by Al Wilson. You were right about the "curvature of silk" and I was right about the last line, "sighed the snake." As I remember it, he sang it with a fiendish hiss: "SSsssssssighed the sssssnake."

Elmer

The Snake Song

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 02:39 PM

In one of Mrrzy's posts of Jun 12 she quotes a poem about Texas which mentions snakes. The Scottish singer, Ed Miller (who bases himself in Austin, Texas), does this poem, which has been set to music. Don't know if he set it, or someone else. He says sometimes in performance, but I haven't tucked that tidbit away. It's a good tune, sprightly & fun to listen to.      Tw

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 11:16 AM

Request!