Songfacts®:

• "Coyote" was written about the actor/writer/playwright Sam Shepard, with whom Mitchell was briefly romantically linked during Bob Dylan's 1975-76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour. Sam Shepard wrote The Rolling Thunder Logbook, which is an account of the tour.
  
  Former Rolling Thunder alumnus Roger McGuinn recalled to Uncut magazine.
  
  "On the Rolling Thunder bus, Joni used to sit at the front next to the driver so she could look out the window and write about what she could see. I remember watching her write Coyote. She had a composition book with a black-and-white cover that were full of new songs, there were about 25 of them. She played Coyote on stage a few times. She was playing a lot of new material and was adding new verses to Coyote each time she sang it. There are no doubts that Coyote was about Sam Shepherd. She and Sam had a fling on tour. She had been living with John Guerin, my old drummer."
• The "woman at home" in this song is Patti Smith, who declined the invitation to join the musicians on the Rolling Thunder Revue. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Nicole - Massapequa, NY, for above 2
• Joni Mitchell titled the song "Coyote" as a metaphorical reference to Sam Shepard, using the coyote as a symbol for several aspects of Shepard's character and their brief relationship:
  
  Appearance: Shepard's lupine features, often likened to a coyote, likely inspired the nickname.
  
  Personality: Coyotes are known tricksters in folklore, mirroring Shepard's charming yet elusive nature.
  
  Lifestyle: Mitchell alludes to Shepard's nomadic lifestyle, reminiscent of a coyote's roaming habits. The song references him as being "too far from the Bay of Fundy," where he had previously lived.
  
  Observation: Mitchell describes "Coyote" as "privately probing the public rooms," suggesting a watchful, cunning quality like that of the animal.
  
  Wildness: The coyote's untamed spirit aligns with Shepard's cowboy persona and freewheeling lifestyle.