"Can we abandon conjecture and look at what singers and collectors have said about this song?"

In other words, can we abandon the thoughts of lowly Mudcatters and respect the conjectures of people of yore?

No, why should we? We can conjecture as well as anybody else, modern or historic.

Shakespeare grew up in the country, and I believe that when he wrote "shuffle off this mortal coil," he was thinking of the soul shuffling off the body the way a snake shuffles off its skin. Remember he had to keep the attention of rowdy audience, and a vivid image like that would appeal to it.

I believe Coyle appears in the song because he almost rhymes with 'while.' I hope that's mundane enough.