Story Behind The Song
I lived in the American southwest as a boy, and raised an abandoned coyote pup for a couple of years. Despite his relative domesticity, eating with our other dogs and living in and around our house, he was still very much a wild animal and would sing along to the other coyotes in the desert at night and disappear at times. Eventually, the neighboring ranchers expressed their displeasure at seeing a coyote near their chickens, etc. So we let him go in a nature preserve where he returned every night for a few months and then disappeared for good. My father and I often found evidence of local coyotes eating just about anything to survive (including eating scoops of mud from water tanks, just to digest the bugs in the mud). Coyotes are still often hunted for bounty provided by ranchers. I believe strongly that our world is a very fragile ecosystem and that the coyote plays a very important role.
Song Description
A harder roots rock approach that playfully speaks for the coyote in what it is like to be a wild animal trying to get by despite its bad reputation. The song is a metaphor for diversity and nature and the fact that all natural beings are here for a good reason. The backing vocals approximate coyote howls to further the effect.
| Song Length |
3:10 |
Genre |
Rock - Roots/Rock n' Roll, Pop - Rock |
| Tempo |
Medium Fast (131 - 150) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
| Mood |
Restless, Distressed |
Subject |
Wild Animals, Judgement |
| Similar Artists |
The Stray Cats, The Clash |
Language |
English |
| Era |
2000 and later |
| |
Lyrics
Coyote (Brian Scott Young)
I'm a wild coyote howling in the desert night. I've got a coyote-sized appetite. But not much grows here where it rarely rains; so the things I eat can get pretty strange.
Chorus: Mud puddle, beetle bugs, slimy old snails, porcupine, prickly pear, old lizard's tails; I'm so hungry I could howl at the moon. Don't care what it is, just got to get some food soon.
All my friends and family think that I'm insane; Because morning, noon, and night its all that's on my brain. But I can't help the way nature made me; and no matter where I look, food's all I see. (chorus)
Now I've heard some ranchers say that I've got no right to hunt their livestock all day and all night. But all life has value, and I'm just as God made me. So don't put your hand in what you don't understand, or you just might be sorry.
Running 'round this desert makes a mighty big thirst, and a rumbling in your belly that's the absolute worst. So when we meet please don't take it personally if I eat you first before you shake paws with me. (chorus)