"The Snake" is a song written and first recorded by civil-rights activist
Oscar Brown
Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois state legislature and the U. ...
in 1963; it became a hit
single for American
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
Al Wilson in 1968.
In the U.S., the hit version of "The Snake" was released in 1968, on
Johnny Rivers
Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...
'
Soul City Records. (Rivers had released his own version of the song on his 1966 album ''
...And I Know You Wanna Dance''). Wilson's single made the
Top 30
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...
in 1968 and, due to exposure on the
UK Northern Soul scene, made the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in August 1975 when reissued, reaching No.41 in September.
The success of "The Snake" on the northern soul nightclub circuit has led to it being ranked 4 of 500 top northern soul singles and for it to appear on over 30
pop and northern soul
compilation albums.
The song was re-released in 1989 as a
B-side to a re-release of "
Just Don't Want to Be Lonely
"Just Don't Want to Be Lonely" is a song written by Bobby Eli, John Freeman and Vinnie Barrett, originally recorded in 1973 by Ronnie Dyson and popularized internationally by The Main Ingredient. Dyson's version reached No. 60 in the US Pop char ...
" by
The Main Ingredient
The Main Ingredient was an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song "Everybody Plays the Fool".
Early history
The group was formed in Harlem, New York City in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer Dona ...
.
[ Wilson's recording of "The Snake" was also featured in a ]Lambrini Lambrini is a light and fruity perry or pear cider that was created by Halewood Artisinal Spirits in 1994. It has been owned by Accolade Wines since June 2021. Lambrini dominates the British commercial perry market, with a 53.6% market share in the ...
television advertisement
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
in the UK.
Chart history
In Popular Culture
The song was featured in Season 4, Episode 25 of the television show ''Northern Exposure'', "Old Tree". It was sung by Cindy Geary in her role as the character Shelly. The episode originally aired on May 24, 1993.
Use by Donald Trump
The song gained renewed attention during the campaign for the 2016 United States presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
. Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidate Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
read its lyrics at several campaign rallies to illustrate his position on illegal immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
, claiming that the decision to allow people claiming refugee status to enter the United States would "come back to bite us", as happened to the woman who took in the snake in the song. "The Snake" has been characterized as "a celebration of black culture and a repudiation of racism", and suggestions have been made that the snake in the song refers to a white person. Two of Brown's seven children asked Trump to stop using their late father's song, telling the media: "He's perversely using 'The Snake' to demonize immigrants" and that Brown "never had anything against immigrants". Despite a cease and desist letter, Trump has continued reciting the lyrics at rallies as recently as June 2021.
See also
* '' The Farmer and the Viper''
References
External links
*
Lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snake, The
1963 songs
1968 singles
1974 singles
1989 singles
Al Wilson (singer) songs
Bell Records singles
Northern soul songs