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Coyote Lyrics

Artist: Joni Mitchell
Album: Hejira

No regrets Coyote
We just come from such different sets of circumstance
I'm up all night in the studios
And you're up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail
While the sun is ascending
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel...
There's no comprehending
Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes
And the lips you can get
And still feel so alone
And still feel related
Like stations in some relay
You're not a hit and run driver, no, no
Racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway

We saw a farmhouse burning down
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of the night
And we rolled right past that tragedy
Till we turned into some road house lights
Where a local band was playing
Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor
And the next thing I know
That Coyote's at my door
He pins me in a corner and he won't take "No!"
He drags me out on the dance floor
And we're dancing close and slow
Now he's got a woman at home
He's got another woman down the hall
He seems to want me anyway
Why'd you have to get so drunk
And lead me on that way
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines of the freeway

I looked a Coyote right in the face
On the road to Baljennie near my old home town
He went running thru the whisker wheat
Chasing some prize down
And a hawk was playing with him
Coyote was jumping straight up and making passes
He had those same eyes - just like yours
Under your dark glasses
Privately probing the public rooms
And peeking thru keyholes in numbered doors
Where the players lick their wounds
And take their temporary lovers
And their pills and powders to get them thru this passion play

No regrets, Coyote
I just get off up aways
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway

Coyote's in the coffee shop
He's staring a hole in his scrambled eggs
He picks up my scent on his fingers
While he's watching the waitresses' legs
He's too fat from the Bay of Fundy
From Appaloosas and Eagles and tides
And the air conditioned cubicles
And the carbon ribbon rides
Are spelling it out so clear
Either he's going to have to stand and fight
Or take off out of here
I tried to run away myself
To run away and wrestle with my ego
And with this flame
You put here in this Eskimo
In this hitcher
In this prisoner
Of the fine white lines
Of the white lines on the free, free way

Comments/Interpretations

by ALAN DRURY on 5/12/2008 2:40pm
Outstanding. Joni sang this live at The Bands swan song and it appears on 'The Last Waltz' (1976)- the definitive rendition for me. Joni set the standard - a great contribution to my musical journey.
by Allie on 6/20/2008 9:29am
I think it's "He's too far from the Bay of Fundy"
by maureenbucci@gmail.com on 6/23/2008 9:31pm
if any one can tell me where to get a track of the last walz rendition I would really appreciate it. email me at maureenbucci@gmail.com. thanks!
by Larry Aloha on 6/29/2008 10:43am
To see Joni sing Coyote with The Band on the dvd of the last waltz is a truly fabulous performance !!!!!
by bitchubitchi on 7/27/2008 6:13pm
Have seen and heard that song in the "Last waltz", it looked and sounded great.
Now,can someone tell me about the meaning of the lyrics of the song ?
by Eliana on 7/28/2008 1:33am
>> I think it's "He's too far from the Bay of Fundy"


That's what I was going to say too. What a great song.
by Patrick UK on 8/22/2008 4:23am
It's 'Too far...', too :-) Great song, though nothing like 'The last time I saw Richard...'.
by lisa on 12/15/2008 3:03pm
i have 2 copies of last waltz! amazing! it's a shame music isn't like that still. does anyone else notice the exchanges of glances between robbie robertson and joni while she's singing? is he the coyote perhaps?
by Tony on 1/14/2009 9:29am
The coyote is Sam Shepard. The reference is in the book "Girls Like Us" by Sheila Weller, page 421. Joni was always very promiscuous but I don't believe she ever had a fling with Robbie Roberson, or Neil Young for that matter.
by Ken in Providence on 1/30/2009 1:37pm
Wow, thanks Tony... I had no idea that this was about Sam Shepard. Makes sense though. One of my favorite Joni songs from my favorite Joni album... and a TOTAL BLAST to play on guitar. My trio plays this song and it brings the house down every time.
by bob in florida on 2/25/2009 12:27am
the greatest line in a song
"he picks up my scent on his fingers"
by Bernard in California on 4/5/2009 2:12pm
Soooo Sexy
by Dave in PA on 5/7/2009 11:32pm
The song has perfect lyrics.
by Suzanne in Orlando on 9/17/2009 7:05am
love the song -
too far from the Bay of Fundy
(not too fat)
by Punch on 11/6/2009 5:09pm
I think this is another one of Joni Mitchell (aka Skeletor) non-sensicle songs. It's like she wrote a bunch of lines, put them in a hat, and pulled randomly.
by CHUCKSTER on 11/20/2009 10:06pm
This song makes perfect sense to me and I can definitely relate it to life's experiences as well. gotta love it!
by Yombe on 5/7/2010 7:55pm
It's definitely "too FAR from the Bay of Fundy, from..."

Bay of Fundy is off the coasts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, northeast of Maine.
by Jamie Soulshine on 6/26/2010 5:59am
It is Far from bay of Funday, and I agree the line "pick up my scent on his fingers" is very erotic. Love this song
by jmpnjck on 11/5/2010 11:48pm
Check out an early version from 12-04-75 with the Rolling Thunder Review. You can find it at wolfgang's vault...

"Also, of particular note is an embryonic "Coyote," one of the most intriguing songs to later surface on Hijera. Written on this tour and a direct reflection of her experiences, Mitchell even acknowledges writing the fourth verse just the night before."
by amazon has the last waltz dvd on 12/27/2010 7:01am
...Chris O'Dell's 2009 auto-bio assertion was that she was the woman in the room down the hallway, Joni was the hitcher, and married (at the time) Sam Shepherd was...the coyote...
by janie on 2/2/2011 7:12pm
The 'woman down the hall' is chris odell, joni wrote this while on tour with bob dylan for the rolling thunder tour..according to odell's autobiography, she was seeing sam first, even though he was married
by ikidunot on 12/29/2011 3:32pm
Saw a video of Last Waltz. Agree that the music of Joni Mitchell and others of this era is missing for the current generation. I detect a deep down sadness in Joni. Hope she has come to terms with her life; her talents are God given great and I hope and pray she realizes that. Don't know what the words mean exactly but a coyote is a wanderer always looking for..... whatever. Joni must have been the prey. Brilliant music. Love it.
by loboscar 57 on 6/12/2012 12:07am
When I hear this song, I remember The last waltz with The Band.
by Bob Roberts on 7/24/2012 4:07pm
Not
And the carbon ribbon rides

Rather
And the carbon ribbon writes.

The carbon ribbon of a typewriter.
by Callie on 4/5/2013 9:59am
Joni, eternally looking for love, is pretty easy prey for a sexy horse rancher....who wouldn't be, a handsome coyote like Sam....
by Callie on 4/5/2013 10:26am
Joni, eternally looking for love, is pretty easy prey for a sexy horse rancher....who wouldn't be, a handsome coyote like Sam....he was pretty darn appealing in those days!
by reptocarl on 4/15/2013 10:34pm
I was never that familiar with Joni Mitchell's music then one day I was watching The Last Waltz on VH1 or MTV or something and when I saw and heard this song I was blown away. It was by far the best song on the whole film. I don't really understand the lyrics but the song as a whole hooked me for good. My list of favorite musicians has grown by one.
by Liz Thor-Larsen on 12/14/2013 9:01am
In the 5th line of the last verse it should say "He's to FAR (not fat) from the Bay of Fundy" - thanks
by Alan on 4/30/2014 1:18pm
I loved the style/the way she sings this very difficult song!
by Anna on 8/14/2016 4:06pm
Jaco Pastorius was also one of her conquests, even though he was married at the time with two children








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