The song, The Snake, that you are all referring to with these lyrics was written by Oscar Brown Jr. It was originally made famous by Al Wilson in 1968 and his version was #1 on the charts for about 3 months or so. Oscar wrote this piece when after a show he did with Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln they were discussing their "agents!" Onoe of the orginal stories upon which this lyrics is based, is an old fable about the tortoise and the snake by a river escaping from a fire. The tortoise agrees to carry the snake on his back and swim across the river to avoid the fire - midway, the snake bites the tortoise who says "we're now both going to die, why'd you bite me? The snake's reply "you knew I was a snake!"