The Snake is a song by American country music singer Eric Church. It is the opening track of his sixth studio album, Desperate Man, released on October 5, 2018.

The song is about America's divisive political system and its two major parties, which Church compares to dangerous snakes. The song was recorded by Church with Travis Meadows and Jeremy Spillman, who also wrote the song.

"The Snake" is a parable about America's two major parties and their unceasing desire to feast on the electorate. It was penned by Church out of his frustration with the current state of politics in the U.S.

In the song, Church compares the Democrat Party and the Republican Party to the snakes, stating that either one of them would kill the other and eat them alive. In addition, he says that the snakes are all-powerful and that their sole objective is to feast on the American people.

Church performed the song with Ashley McBryde at the ACM Awards on Sunday night. The pair performed the song in front of a screen projecting an angry rattlesnake while backed by an ominous hooded choir. The dark and edgy performance garnered an array of responses from the audience, which was clearly in favor of the song.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Church said that he wrote the song out of his frustration with America's divisive political system. He said that his disdain for career politicians who are more interested in riling up their base and staying in office, than they are concerned with the people they represent, is evident in his lyrics.