The song, The Mighty Quinn?

Question

Is there any kind of story behind that?

Answer 1

". . . apparently Bob Dylan wrote Quinn The Eskimo after watching Anthony Quinn playing an Eskimo in the 1959 film The Savage Innocents, directed by Nicholas Ray and also starring Peter O'Toole. By all accounts, the film shows the harsh reality of the lifestyle of the Inuit people and their conflict with mainstream Canadian society. In 1968, however, Quinn The Eskimo was covered by Manfred Mann who rejected much of Dylan's commentary to turn the song into a fairly light-hearted pop recording. From film to song to song to film, Anthony Quinn's Inuk, an Eskimo hunter prepared to speed his escape from the law by sending his elderly mother-in-law out onto the ice to die had become, some way down the line, Denzel Washington's Jamaican police chief with a dodgy boss. You also suspect that, in this case, the description of Quinn being 'Mighty' was made in jest. "

Answer 2

There's a good movie with Denzel Washington as Quinn. I'm pretty sure the name of it is The Mighty Quinn.

Answer 3

Dylan wrote it. Manfred Mann and The Earth Band made it a hit in the mid 60s. Hard to say what was on Bob's mind at the time, but in that time and place, it would have had to be a protest song. Earlier reply is probably right on the money.

Answer 4

watch the Robert Townsend movie with the same name...it will explain the song.

Answer 5

You'd probably have to ask Bob Dylan.