Dylan loved to poke fun at the establishment, especially the fear they spread to "control" the masses. It's nothing to do with Anthony Quinn or Eskimos at all. He is laughing at the fear of Communists by saying "When Mighty Quinn gets here everybody's gonna jump for joy!" In other words, we need not fear the Russians-if they took over life would be essentially the same-'building monuments and boats'. Every politician was seeing a Communist Plot. We were in the Cold War and afraid of the Russians. Coy from Palestine, TexasThe song is classic Dylan.Steve from Chicago, IlThe double negatives in the lyrics could hold the true meaning of this song.Quinn from North PoleHe's the guy on the Eskimo pie.I also didn't realize it was a Dylan song. I'd just heard the song again yesterday after not having heard it since my younger years and I had always thought it was "there is nothing like the mighty wind". I wonder if there is any connection? I don't know my music history very well. Phil from BurlingtonIt appears that Quinn might not have been an Innuit (Eskimo) but a Native American also a river and a university are named as such, in long form, Quinnipiac University, Connecticut and Quinnipiac River.Dylan was amazed at the acceptance for him and wrote this song Quinn was such a wonderful soul that all the people in the bar jumped for joy when he came in. Music Expert from Music CitySong is about an Eskimo named Quinn who Bob Dylan met in a dive bar in Arkansas (of all places).I have never had the first idea what the song is about except that it seems to be 'Hey, gang, gather round, something exciting is going to happen 'cause the big man's coming.' As to who the big man is and why he is an Eskimo, I don't know." (from 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh) It was like learning a song phonetically in a foreign language. He sold me on the idea of doing this song, but I had to make up some of the words as I couldn't make out everything he was saying. It was sung in a rambling monotone but Manfred had recognized its potential. "We heard about 10 songs and I thought ' This Wheel's On Fire' would be the one to do, but Manfred liked The Mighty Quinn, which was called 'Quinn The Eskimo' then. "We met in a publisher's house as Bob Dylan was making some new material available to other artists," D'Abo said. Mike D'Abo of Manfred Mann explained how it happened. It was rare for Dylan to let anyone record one of his songs before he did, but "Quinn The Eskimo" was an exception. Manfred Mann, a British group named after their keyboard player, took Dylan's " Just Like A Woman" to #10 in the UK with their 1966 cover and was known in America for their #1 hit " Do Wah Diddy Diddy" from 1964. This was written by Bob Dylan, but Manfred Mann was the first to record it.
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