Bob Dylan: The Mighty Quinn Meaning

The Mighty Quinn Lyrics

Ev'rybody's building the big ships and the boats,
Some are building monuments,
Others, jotting down notes,
Ev'rybody's in despair,
Ev'ry girl and boy
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here,
Ev'rybody's jump for joy.
Come all without, come all...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Sep 11th 2014 !⃝

   This song is about Anthony Quinn in the movie "the Savage Innocents" He plays an Eskimo that is liked by everyone and only gets in trouble when he meets white men.
   Dylan himself said he was inspired by Anthony Quinn's performance to write the song.
   Case closed.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   Jay Plastow

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   Jan 23rd 2011 !⃝

   The Song The Mighty Quinn is a drug song. In the 60's in the US there was something called a "Power Pack" It was a capsule that had the following ingredients: Mescaline, Meth Amphetamine Hydrochloride USP 90, LSD, and STP. The STP was not what is used in cars. The Mighty Quinn is the British counterpart.
3. anonymous

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   Jul 7th !⃝

   The song is not inspired by a movie, nor is it about Jesus or about an easy going lazy guy who doesn't want to work, lol. It's a song about a drug dealer and the references to sugar and to wanting a dose is referring to cocaine or heroin, and the people are jumping for joy because they are going to get high. Dillan may have named his drug dealer "Quinn" as a joke after anthony Quinn complained about the noise coming from a party being held at the hotel he was staying at which Dillon was attending.
   
4. anonymous

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   Jun 27th !⃝

   The Mighty Quinn
   
   by Bob Dylan, servant of Satan (confessed by himself)
   Manfred Mann's Earth Band
   
   -------------
   Everybody's building ships and boats
   (Noah's Ark?)
   
   Some are building monuments
   (Tower of Babel?)
   
   Others jotting down notes
   (writing scripture?)
   
   Everybody's in despair
   Every girl and boy
   (great Tribulation? The second coming of Christ is to likened unto the days of Noah and Lot)
   
   But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
   Everybody's gonna jump for joy
   (False messiah arrives prior to Christ Jesus)
   
   Come all without, come all within
   (left & right /all religions/all nations)
   
   You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
   (Great deceiver/beast)
   
   Come all without, come all within
   You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
   ( who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?
   ?Advanced technology likened to calling fire from heaven/blue beam deception))
   
   Let me do what I wanna do, I like my sugar sweet
   (living after the flesh/carnal mind of death/do what thou wilt/ follow your heart/create your own destiny /you are your own god)
   
   But jumping queues and making haste
   It ain't my cup of meat
   (Zombified Fans of empty sports /politics and all the hoopla and vainglory involved
   
   Everyone's beneath the trees feeding pigeons on a limb
   ( trees: govs. All underlings (peons, literally !) holding up signs and sacrificing to (feeding) the exalted men, higher than themselves, [their false gods] from whom they hope to receive freedom, peace, safety, wealth, and satisfaction in life)
   
   But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
   All the pigeons (rulers) gonna run to him
   (Every knee shall bow/ALL the exalted shall be brought low,
   -yet this beast will himself, after his short reign, be cast into the lake of fire. Rev 19:20; 20:10)
   
   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
   
   A cat’s meow and a cow’s moo, I can recite them all
   Just tell me where it hurts yuh, honey
   And I’ll tell you who to call
   (Wily, lying politicians , align with corporations that support them [International Banking cabal, freemasonry, RCC, Military industrial complex, big Pharma, oil, food, chemicals manufacturing, ]and they in turn support the corporations bribe them the most speak out of both sides, depending upon audience)
   
   Nobody can get no sleep, there's someone on everyone's toes
   (Elections every four years jockeying for power and position like raging waves battering your boat so you can't rest)
   
   But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
   Everybody's gonna want to doze (or a dose)
   (Vax or ?)
   
   
   Come all without, (Dems)
   come all within (Reps)
   You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
   (Amalgamation of both and yet different)
   
   Come all without, come all within
   You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quinn
   
   Trojan Trump will stand as proxy for the globalists he pretends to fight. A Fake Christian pretending to stand for fake Christians and fake Jews. Really only loves HIMSELF, and will dump anyone on a whim as Solomon as they loose usefulness to him. Promises peace and safety while covertly ushering in sudden global destruction (1Thes 5:3) Mocks his constituents with the snake parable ("silly woman you knew I was a snake before you took me in"; before she nursed the sick abandoned snake back to health, and then snake bit her and kills her.)
   
5. anonymous

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   Sep 5th 2023 !⃝

   The song is about a motorcycle daredevil. Rent is due, the chicks are leaving. Build a ramp, drink a pint of whiskey, get going real fast splatter upon landing get paid. It's a covert song about getting paid for writing confusing stupid lyrics. The original lyrics were chin not Quinn.
6. anonymous

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   Jul 8th 2022 !⃝

   Bobby Zimmerman wrote this after visiting Britain in which he had become accustomed to drinking Gin and Tonic, the latter of which contains Quinine and is a potent anti-malarial drug.
   
   It's essentially a song about the power of Quinine. The Eskimo part is due to drinking his G&T with a lot of ice.
   
   Toodle-Pipski
   
7. OBXLisa

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   Jul 15th 2021 !⃝

   I JUST read the interview where Dylan was asked about 'Quinn the Eskimo'. He DID NOT say it was about the Anthony Quinn movie. In fact, he said he had not seen that movie. He said he supposed he had gotten the title just from something he heard somewhere. The INTERVIEWER asked if perhaps he heard somebody talking about that movie, and Dylan said, "Maybe". It definitely is NOT what inspired the song! He did not elaborate on the meaning of the lyrics, but it was NOT inspired by the movie he said he had not seen!
8. anonymous

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   Apr 3rd 2020 !⃝

   The Mighty 'Quinn' has become prophetic in it's adaptation as Hydroxychloro'quine'... the cure for the corona virus... Even much of the lyrics match the current situation with the virus at hand.
   
9. anonymous

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   Aug 17th 2019 !⃝

   The controversial Sheriff Larry Quinlan who served as Dutchess County, New York’s Sheriff for almost twenty years (known locally as the Mighty Quinn) arrested Bob Dylan on drug charges just before Dylan’s motorcycle accident in the 60’s. This has always been Dutchess County’s understanding of the song. Dutchess County is just across the river from Woodstock, NY where Dylan was living at the time. Yes, this is the same Woodstock that the Festival made famous in 1968!
10. anonymous

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    Nov 16th 2018 !⃝

    I always thought it was about Qualludes

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

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    May 24th 2014 !⃝

    This song would absolutely be about Jesus, if Jesus had been dealing the yeyo.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. m320753

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    Apr 28th 2014 !⃝

    Bob Dylan in his early career made many references to God and Jesus, In " Masters of War, he says " Even Jesus would never forgive what you do." In with God on our side he sings " Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss/ but I can't think for ya/ you'll have to decide whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side. This song is not about drugs, although Dylan used them in the 60s and beyond, he was mainly a wine drinker then switched to Jack Daniels. This song relates to the Old Testament in the Bible, Long ships = Noah's Ark. Monuments = the Tower at Babel Quinn is the Savior the Jews in the old Testament were waiting for.
    
    An awful lot of Dylan's songs have Biblical references, before , during and after he became " Born Again" He may have been among the first Jews for Jesus members who acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Savior, but still cling to the ancient Hebrew Rituals. Just as " Christians for Isreal, both are growing in number of members . That's only my opinion, don't take it personal
13. anonymous

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    Apr 27th 2014 !⃝

    It's obviously about people conforming to a propagandized lifestyle and sinking into group-think, competing with one another for things that don't even matter in the big picture. Where as an "Eskimo" lives a simple lifestyle based on things of true importance, and is closer to what nature intended. And you have to admit it does feel pretty damn good to meet someone "real".
14. anonymous

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    Sep 10th 2012 !⃝

    I always thought this song was about herion. It could be about a heroin dealer, it's definitely not about cocaine. I never cared much for suggested or implied meanings, I prefer straght forward. When You listen to Lou Reed's song heroin, between the lyrics and the title there's not much you have to guess at.
15. LittleQuinn

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    Aug 24th 2012 !⃝

    I think Bob Dylan wrote this song about my brother Tommy because he was such a great person that everyone loved.
    This song is not about about a drug dealer but about someone that everybody was always exited to see and loved to be with.
    We always jumped for joy when Tommy came home. This song came out not long after our brother was murdered in 1968.
    This song meant a lot to our family after losing the best big brother that we all had.
    From the heart of the USA, Kansas.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
16. anonymous

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    Jul 14th 2012 !⃝

    In my interpretation, this song is about a metaphorical savior. It could be loosely affiliated with drugs. When he says everyone's building big ships and boats and monuments, it sounds like it could relate to the Vietnam War. It may also be connected to the hectic-like society the '60s came to be. Everyone was looking for a savior, but none ever came.
17. anonymous

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    Apr 12th 2012 !⃝

    Its absolutely one of the first drug songs-many people have referenced the facts in the other feedback here. No artist came right out and admitted to what their drug songs where about-John Lennon claimed Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was about a picture his son drew. Yea, right.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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