Charm the Snake

"Charm the Snake" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Christopher Cross. It was co-written by the producer Michael Omartian. It was released in October 1985 as the lead single and second song from his third album, Every Turn of the World.^[1] The single peaked at No. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 in five weeks, making it the only track on the album to chart. "Charm the Snake" is the last track by Christopher Cross to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.^[2]

"Charm the Snake"
Single by Christopher Cross
from the album Every Turn of the World
B-side	"Open Your Heart"
Released	October 1985
Recorded	1985
Studio	Pop 'n' Roll Studios (Santa Monica, California)
Genre	Pop rock
Length	4:22 (album version) 3:50 (single version)
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriters	Christopher Cross Michael Omartian
Producer	Michael Omartian
Christopher Cross singles chronology
"A Chance for Heaven" (1984) "Charm the Snake" (1985) "Every Turn of the World" (1985)

Music video

There was a music video directed by David Fincher featuring Cross driving in an open-wheel car racing against a cowboy-like racer and a pretty girl cheers for him.^[3] During the process of the video, it took Z Street Films 2 days for the video to be directed. The video was exactly recorded at the Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, the oldest permanent road course in California and in the United States. Cross has actually been racing on the Formula Super Vee car for a couple of years and planned to go professional. Fincher directed the video, Carol Stewart produced it, and Daniel Hainey was the director of the photography.^[4]. However, in the music video, Cross is seen driving in a Formula Atlantic instead of a Super Vee, because he said that the Formula Atlantic cars were more sexier with their big tires. He also had so much fun driving in the car he told Fincher to shoot the scenes.^[5]

Personnel

• Christopher Cross – vocals, guitars, SynthAxe
• Michael Omartian – keyboards, synthesizers, horn arrangements
• Marcus Ryle – synthesizer programming
• Joe Chemay – bass guitar
• John Robinson – drums
• Alexandra Brown – backing vocals
• Lynn Davis – backing vocals
• Vesta Williams – backing vocals
• Richard Marx – backing vocals
• Khalig Glover – backing vocals
• Portia Griffin – backing vocals

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100[6]	68