From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2013 #163 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Website:http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe:mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Monday, April 29 2013 Volume 2013 : Number 163 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Coyote [David Marine ] Re: Coyote [Richard Flynn ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2013 16:20:48 -0400 From: David Marine Subject: Re: Coyote Thanks for the info, Anita. And Moni, thanks for the further clarification regarding Sam Shephard. I don't even know why I mentioned the speculation about who Coyote was written "about." It's really the iconography of the coyote in Native American lore that I find so interesting. I did of course check the website database first, but I didn't find any instances of Joni specifically talking about it. I'm not well versed in the various First People stories: what little I know comes from Joni and the Carlos Castaneda books. But I love these stories and find them very compelling... the idea that we can learn about our human nature by observing the natural world around us, and the various aspects of our character that are represented by the animals. Best, David On Apr 28, 2013, at 11:18 AM, Anita wrote: > David wrote: >> I've read from time to time the speculation that the song "Coyote" referred to >> the actor Peter Coyote. But knowing Joni's strong interest in Native American >> culture, and the way that it has informed so much of her work, I think she >> must have written the song with an awareness of the iconography of the coyote, >> and possibly the the Shuswap Indian song. Has she ever mentioned this in any >> interviews? > > I don't know about interviews, though I expect a search on Joni.com might reveal it and Moni would definitely be able to find out! She's good at that stuff. > > What I do remember are several discussions on JMDL about the identity of Coyote, and there seemed to be a lot of support for Sam Shepherd. > > I have been fortunate to visit Xatsull, a heritage village of the Shushwap people along the Fraser River in BC, so very much Joni territory. They have a great storytelling tradition and, of course, the legends associated with so much of the wildlife within the area are undoubtedly very important to the people. > > There are so many stories about Coyote, the Trickster, as you say. One of my books says that Coyote is often called the Medicine Dog, and that the medicine may or may not be to your liking. The medicine of Coyote will make you laugh, but maybe painfully, but you will always learn a lesson about yourself. > > I am fairly confident that Joni would have an awareness of the iconography. At Ruby Lake she had a couple of friends who were First People's, though I wouldn't know which band, and I thought Joni looked like a Tribal Elder herself. The BC coast where she has lived for so long is full of images and wonderful carvings of animal medicine, it's probably now in her bones and maybe was even back then when she wrote 'Hejira' > Anita ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:12:16 -0400 From: Richard Flynn Subject: Re: Coyote If it helps the poet Anne Waldman, who was on the Rolling Thunder tour, where the song was first unveiled, told me that Coyote was definitely Sam Shepard. She also agreed that Joni is amazing! Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID Moni Kellermann wrote: >Am 28.04.2013 10:21, Wie David Marine so vortrefflich formulierte: >> I've read from time to time the speculation that the song "Coyote" >> referred to the actor Peter Coyote. > >This was mentioned and more or less debunked in 1999 in an interview >between the late Wally Breese and David Lahm: >http://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=1358 > >As for the previous discussions about Coyote and Sam Shepard which go >back to 2001, see the archives of this list: >https://encrypted.google.com/search?&q=coyote+sam+shepard+site:smoe.org > >On the wikipedia page for the song >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_(song) >it says that "In Chris O'Dell's 2009 autobiography Miss O'Dell she >details an affair she had with married playwright Sam Shepard and states >that Shepard then cheated on her with Joni Mitchell. O'Dell claims that >"Coyote" is written about Sam Shepard." > >Further, this is also discussed in Chapter 14 of Sheila Weller's book >which you can read here (scroll down the page to "Page 421 - Joni >Mitchell writes Coyote": >http://www.girlslikeusthemusic.com/chapter-fourteen/ > >To sum this all up: Coyote is Sam Shepard and not Peter Coyote. There >doesn't seem to be an interview available where Joni would have talked >about this. > > >moni k. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2013 #163 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here:mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe