Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: SharonA
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 06:34 PM

More link-posting info for Azizi! In order to create a link on Thread A to a specific post on Thread B, you need to do the following:

Open the thread you want to link to (Thread B).

At the top of that thread is a list of posts that have been made to the thread (names, dates and times), all of which are links to those posts. Click on the link that takes you to the post you're targeting. (You can click on the name, the date or the time of the post -- any of those will link you to the post.)

The URL of that post will now appear in the "Address" section at the top of your window. For example, the URL of the lovely poem Kendall posted on the "Sorch's Most Recent Strange Experience" thread (11 Jul 06 - 10:08 AM) is http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=92868&messages=28#1781007

Copy the URL.

Click on the "Make a link ('blue clicky')" link to the right of the "Submit Message" button at the bottom of the thread.

Paste the URL into the "Link URL" box in the Link Maker window.

If desired, type some text in the "Link text (optional*)" box in the Link Maker window. (For our example, I will type "Bill Levenworth poem posted by Kendall".)

Click the "Create Link" button.

Copy the HTML gobbledygook that appears in the window -- this is your link to the message on Thread B. Paste it into your message on Thread A. Here's the link from my example: Bill Levenworth poem posted by Kendall

You can even make a link to a post that's on the same thread (Thread A)! Here's a link to Azizi's post where she asked for these instructions (13 Jul 06 - 05:25 PM): Azizi's question

Clear as mud?
Sharon

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Amy
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 06:42 PM

Wow! So that is how it's done.                                 
Thanks a lot SharonA and Katlaughing for the info!
Amy

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 06:50 PM

Yes, thank you both!

And Amy, thanks for posting that comment. I guess maybe it's a case of misery liking company, but at least I know that I'm not the only one who didn't know how to do this.

I'll copy these instructions and put it in my files so I can find it when I get up the nerve to try it.

Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Amos
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 07:03 PM

It is funny to notice that no-one has offered the verse from "Keep On Truckin' Mama" which implores:

---

"Keep that black snake off, me it's cold and clammy to the touch!"

"Keep that black snake off, me it's cold and clammy to the touch!"

"Oh, mama, mama, donc'ha realize?

That blacksnake 'longs between your thighs"

"Keep that black snake off, me it's cold and clammy to the touch!"

---

But maybe that was better left unmentioned....


A

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: SharonA
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 07:06 PM

Azizi and Amy: No problem! Mind you, this is the method I've devised through trial-and-error. If there's an easier way to find the URL of a specific post (without having to take note of the name and date and time of the post, go to the top of the thread, and hunt for the link with the right name-date-time match), then I wish somebody would tell me!

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 08:19 PM

How about I Ain't Fattening Frogs For Snakes, by the Larks? A guy singing about his woman he's taking care of so well, who's cheating on him with some snake in the grass..

Jerry

Subject: Lyr Add: BLACK SNAKE MOAN (Blind Lemon Jefferson)
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 09:21 PM

Speaking of black snakes, here's a classic song:


BLACK SNAKE MOAN
by
Blind Lemon Jefferson
recording of circa June 1926, Chicago, Illinois
from
Blind Lemon Jefferson (Milestone 47022)
I - I ain't got no mama now
I - I ain't got no mama now
She told me late last night, "You don't need no mama no how"
Mmm, mmm, black snake crawlin' in my room
Mmm, mmm, black snake crawlin' in my room
Some pretty mama better come and get this black snake soon
Ohh-oh, that must have been a bed bug, baby a chinch can't bite that hard
Ohh-oh, that must have been a bed bug, honey a chinch can't bite that hard
Ask my sugar for fifty cents, she said "Lemon, ain't a child in the yard"
Mama, that's all right, mama that's all right for you
Mama, that's all right, mama that's all right for you
Mama, that's all right, most seen all you do
Mmm, mmm, what's the matter now?
Mmm, mmm, honey what's the matter now?
Sugar, what's the matter, don't like no black snake no how
Mmm, mmm, wonder where my black snake gone?
Mmm, mmm, wonder where this black snake gone?
Black snake mama done run my darlin' home
__________
Note: Jefferson's first single for Paramount was also his most successful recording. An excellent example of how Blind Lemon used overtly suggestive sexual imagery without becoming salacious;
Note 1: Chinch bug, defined in different terms as a type of bed bug and as another insect which is destructive to types of lawn grass;
Note 2: lyric is garbled, "Most seen all you do" is a best guess.

Online source: http://www.harptab.com/lyrics/ly2719.shtml

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 09:31 PM

"We Need More Rattlesnakes." Was that Wayne Raney? Can't remember.

By the way, "Fattening Frogs" goes away back to the Mobile Strugglers in the 1940s. I recorded it too, in 1971.

Bob

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 09:32 PM

Thanks for the info, Bob..

Jerry

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 09:33 PM

Here's another children's rhyme that includes the "There's A Place On Mars" verses:

Coca Cola (clap clap clap)
went to town (clap clap clap)
Hi-C (clap clap clap)
knocked him down (clap clap clap)
7up (clap clap clap)
picked him up (clap clap clap)
Dr. Pepper (clap clap clap)
gave him (clap clap clap)
sleeping pills (clap clap clap)
jelly rolls (clap clap clap)
Theres a place on Mars
where the ladies smoke cigars
every puff they take
is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead
you put diamonds in his head
when the diamonds break
it's enough to bake a cake
when the cake is done
it is 1991
when you tie your shoe
it is 1992
when you get stung by a bee
it is 1993
when you slam a door
it is 1994
when you dance the jive
it is 1995
when you pick up sticks
it is 1996
when you like a boy named devon
it is 1997
when you close the gate
it is 1998
when you're feelin' fine
it is 1999
then it gets all cold
then you
FREEZE!

http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php posted by Miranda at August 19, 2004

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Elmer Fudd
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 10:44 PM

There was a rock and roll song from the late fifties or early sixties with the chorus:

Let me in, oh tender woman,
Let me in for heaven's sake!
Let me in, oh tender woman,
Sssssighed the snake.

The last verse, after the woman takes in the snake and feeds and cuddles him and he turns around and bites her:

"Shut up silly woman,"
Said the snake with an evil grin.
"You knew darn well I was a snake
Before you let me in."

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 10:50 PM

And there's always "Charlotte the Harlot"

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 11:23 PM

How happy I am when I crawl into bed And a rattlesnake rattles his tail at my head. -- The Old Settler's Song

--- Joe Fineman    [e-mail]

||: Art, being bartender, is never drunk, And magic that believes itself must die. :||

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SNAKE (Oscar Brown, Jr.)
From: Alba
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 11:24 PM

Ah Yes Dick. A Good Un for sure.

Great Song too Elmer.
I think it was written by a Man called Al Wilson but I could be wrong so don't qoute me..:)

I love the Song. The Snake is a man for sure in this one

The Snake

On her way to work one morning, down the path alongside the lake
A tender-hearted woman saw a poor, half-frozen snake
Its pretty coloured skin had been all frosted up with dew
'Oh wow' she cried 'I'll take you in and I'll take care of you'

Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in tender woman, yeah,
'Cos I'm the snake

She wrapped him up all cosy in a ??? of silk
And she laid him by the fire-side with some honey and some milk
She hurried home from work that night and as soon as she arrived
She found that pretty snake she'd taken in had been revived

Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in tender woman, yeah,
'Cos I'm the snake

She clutched him to her bosom, 'You're so beautiful!' she cried
'But if I had not a-taken you in, by now you would have died'
She stroked his pretty skin again and kissed and held him tight
But instead of giving her the thanks, he gave her a viscious bite

Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in tender woman, yeah,
'Cos I'm the snake

'Oh snake, you' cried that woman 'you have bitten me, but why?
You know your body's poisonous and now I'm gonna die'
'Ah, shut up silly woman' said that reptile with a grin
'You knew I was a snake before you ever took me in'

Take me in, oh tender woman
Take me in, for heaven's sake
Take me in tender woman
'Cos I'm the snake
I'm the snake.

Oh no just what I needed. An earworm at Bedtime...!!

Jude

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 11:28 PM

Ummm, Alba, would "earworm" be the diminutive of "earsnake?"**bg**

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Alba
Date: 13 Jul 06 - 11:32 PM

Indeed Kat it very well could be...LOL!

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Mo the caller
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 06:07 AM

That link thing never works for me, let's try again
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=92940&messages=66#1782984
thats cut happened when I did what it said - "cut" and "pasted" Now let's try "copy" and "paste"
try again
No still no luck. What am I doing wrong, I followed Sharon's instructions.
On the link maker the Test this link had my link and it worked
try again
That's all I get if I copy and paste that bit!

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Mo the caller
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 06:09 AM

Aha, in the reply box it looks as if it hasn't worked, then when I posted it, it had.
No wonder I'm confused.

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

OK. The Earworm won.
I listened to the Song a minute ago to hear the word I had forgotten and here is the complete line:)

"She wrapped him up all cosy in a curvature of silk"

Now to find another piece of Music in an effort replace this earworm with another...**sigh**
Happy Fry Day All!
Jude

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: SharonA
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 08:03 AM

Mo says of blue clickies: " ...in the reply box it looks as if it hasn't worked, then when I posted it, it had."

That's right! When you copy the HTML gobbledygook that the Link Maker makes (y'know, the line that starts with the "<" symbol and ends with the ">" symbol), and you paste it in the Reply box, it still looks like gobbledygook. If you want to check and make sure that you really put a link in your message, be sure to check the "Preview" box next to the "Submit Message" button BEFORE you click on the button! That way, you will see your message as it will appear on the thread, complete with link, AND you can click on the link that's IN THE PREVIEW to test it without losing your message! Once you've made sure that everything works, click on the "Submit Message" button without checking the "Preview" box first.

Hope that made sense!

Sharon

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:35 AM

Does anybody besides me remember the late (and sorely missed) Jonathan Eberhart singing his own composition "Reptile Reel" ?? The refrain (apologies in advance for 15 years of Folk Process in my head) went:

Reptiles, reptiles, got 'em by the score
Rattlesnakes and garden snakes parading by my door
Put a 'gator in your garter and cobra in your creel
If you want to raise a ruckus with the Reptile Reel

Before posting I searched DT (no hits) and Googled on Jonathan's name-- no luck. There wre some 3-4 verses each one more outrageous than the previous. Would love to reconstruct that one. . .

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:44 AM

Alba, I think the missing word is actually "coverture" (a thing that covers) rather than "curvature" (the state of being curvey).

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Alba
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:49 AM

Thanks Bob.
Now that sounds more like it and makes more sense!
I have the Song on an old Tape I made Years ago and I did have that earworm in my ear while I was listening to it this morning..heehee
Have a good Day Bob and Thanks again.
Best Wishes,
Jude

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Cool Beans
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:56 AM

The Beach Boys' "Serpent USA"

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:00 AM

ok...I heard this sung 35-40 years ago by a white guy who sang lot of black blues. He did it in a very driving blues-like style on 12 string guitar. I have not heard it before or since...It 'sounds' very composed and relatively modern, so someone ought to have heard it.

Here are some pieces I can remember.

"Adam and Eve was in the garden;
Everything was jake.
When a creature did come up sayin'
"MY...name...is...Snake!"

....then there are some lines about the apple, etc.
then a refrain:

"Go ahead and bite it...bet you'd be delighted"

"Go ahead and taste it...you don't wanta waste it!"


never mind...I refined my search terms in Google, and found this:
Forbidden Fruits (Nina Simone)

...so, I see it WAS composed....but the version I heard sung was way funkier and 'heavier' than the somewhat genteel version on that link.

ok...*grin* (following more links)....more like THIS with sound file in Real Audio....

This has a more of the feel of what I remember, but it is clear that the guy had adapted it heavily for 12 string.

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: Bill D
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 10:06 AM

so...we come full circle.....I read thru the thread not realizing what we had started with was the song I remembered...

Subject: RE: Songs & Rhymes That Mention Snakes
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 11:10 AM

'The Little Girl & The Dreadful Snake' - recorded by Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys, also performed by the New Lost City Ramblers.
Lyrics on request.

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

Request!

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: Alba
Date: 14 Jul 06 - 09:13 PM

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

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: GUEST,Hoodlum
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 04:52 AM

I've got it by Trini Lopez

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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!"