Quinn the Eskimo

About Quinn the Eskimo

"Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)" is a folk-rock song written by Bob Dylan and first recorded during The Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. The song was recorded in December 1967 and first released in January 1968 as "Mighty Quinn" by the British band Manfred Mann and became a great success. It has been recorded by a number of performers, often under the "Mighty Quinn" title. The subject of the song is the arrival of Quinn (an Eskimo), who changes despair into joy and chaos into rest, and attracts attention from the animals. Dylan is widely believed to have derived the title character from actor Anthony Quinn's role as an Eskimo in the 1960 movie The Savage Innocents. Dylan has also been quoted as saying that the song was nothing more than a "simple nursery rhyme". A 2004 Chicago Tribune article also claimed that the song was named after Gordon Quinn, co-founder of Kartemquin Films, who had given Dylan and Howard Alk uncredited editing assistance on Eat the Document.  more »

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Everybody's building
The big ships and the boats
Some are building monuments
Others are jotting down notes

Everybody's in despair
Every girl and boy
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
Everybody jump for joy

Come all without, come all within
You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn

Now I like to dude, just like the rest
I left my sugar sweet
But darning fumes and making haste
It ain't my cup of meat

Everybody's just standin' around 'neath the trees
Feeding pigeons on a limb
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
Then pigeons will go to him

Come all without, come all within
You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn

[Incomprehensible]
I can recite 'em all
Just tell me where it hurts
And I'll tell you who to call

Nobody can get in his sleep
There's someone on everybody's toes
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
Everybody's gonna doze

Come all without, come all within
You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
Come all without, come all within
You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan ( /ˈdɪlən/; born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and artist. He has been an influential figure in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of Dylan's early songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'", became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving his initial base in the culture of folk music behind, Dylan's six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" has been described as radically altering the parameters of popular music in … more »

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