The Story In The Song – Al Wilson – The Snake

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A great tragic allegorical fable inspired by Aesop, that became a slowburn classic soul-ballad standard. Aesop’s Fables includes a story of an ungrateful venomous snake that still bites and poisons to death a brave naive and kindly frog who is trying to save him from drowning, ensuring that they both die. The snake tells the poor frog that it is in his nature to bite and the frog should never have trusted him in the first place. Oscar Brown wrote the song version in 1963, but Wilson’s recording wasn’t issued until 1968, and it wasn’t a UK hit until 1975. It tells of a woman who takes a snake home to save it from hypothermia. She puts it by the fire and offers it milk, honey and finally her own bosom before it bites her. The snake is in no danger itself and totally pitiless of her distress and surprise as she dies. The song replaces beast fable with a strong sense of deadly passion. It has a viscous dark edge as a story of a woman who trusts a dangerous man, despite all the warning signs – and so many women believe their love and kindness can turn a brutal man into a more gentle lover, often a great cost. Arthur Chappell