Discussion:
"The Mighty Quinn"--What does this song REALLY mean?
(too old to reply)
Whatsgoingon71
2004-09-30 12:01:45 UTC
Permalink
If this subject has been touched upon in the past, I am sorry for bringing it
back up again--but this has been bothering me ever since I heard this song at
age ten. I have looked at the lyrics in print and listened to it nearly a
million times and I still don't get the drift. Was there any sort of social,
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant to be
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't get out
of your head?


I'd appreciate anyone's two-cents' worth,


Andrea
BobbyM
2004-09-30 12:18:59 UTC
Permalink
Post by Whatsgoingon71
If this subject has been touched upon in the past, I am sorry for bringing it
back up again--but this has been bothering me ever since I heard this song at
age ten. I have looked at the lyrics in print and listened to it nearly a
million times and I still don't get the drift. Was there any sort of social,
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant to be
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't get out
of your head?
Dylan's inspiration for the title character is supposedly Anthony Quinn's
portrayal of an Eskimo in the 1959 movie, The Savage Innocents. Beyond
that, it's probably anyone guess concerning the lyrics. There were a lot of
goofy songs written while Dylan and The Band were down in the basement.
Mike Mooney
2004-09-30 13:29:04 UTC
Permalink
Post by Whatsgoingon71
If this subject has been touched upon in the past, I am sorry for bringing it
back up again--but this has been bothering me ever since I heard this song at
age ten. I have looked at the lyrics in print and listened to it nearly a
million times and I still don't get the drift. Was there any sort of social,
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant to be
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't get out
of your head?
I'd appreciate anyone's two-cents' worth,
From the Playboy Dylan interview:

Dylan: ...I do know what my songs are about.

Playboy: And what's that?

Dylan: Oh, some are about four minutes, some are about five minutes, and
some, believe it or not, are about eleven or twelve.

Mike M
FiLL
2004-09-30 15:04:01 UTC
Permalink
--
My CD Store On Half.com
http://half.ebay.com/shops/shops.jsp?seller_id=1044802
Post by Whatsgoingon71
Post by Whatsgoingon71
If this subject has been touched upon in the past, I am sorry for
bringing
it
Post by Whatsgoingon71
back up again--but this has been bothering me ever since I heard this
song
at
Post by Whatsgoingon71
age ten. I have looked at the lyrics in print and listened to it nearly a
million times and I still don't get the drift. Was there any sort of
social,
Post by Whatsgoingon71
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant
to be
Post by Whatsgoingon71
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't
get
out
Post by Whatsgoingon71
of your head?
I'd appreciate anyone's two-cents' worth,
Dylan: ...I do know what my songs are about.
Playboy: And what's that?
Dylan: Oh, some are about four minutes, some are about five minutes, and
some, believe it or not, are about eleven or twelve.
Mike M
The original poster owes you change...that's at least a dollar's worth!

FiLL
Michael Black
2004-09-30 14:03:39 UTC
Permalink
Post by Whatsgoingon71
If this subject has been touched upon in the past, I am sorry for bringing it
back up again--but this has been bothering me ever since I heard this song at
age ten. I have looked at the lyrics in print and listened to it nearly a
million times and I still don't get the drift. Was there any sort of social,
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant to be
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't get out
of your head?
I'd appreciate anyone's two-cents' worth,
Andrea
I have no idea but it does remind me of an interesting occurance of the a bit
of the lyrics.

There's an afternoon talk show here in Canada, and last week there was a
duo performing. I didn't catch their name, but they were sisters. The
host of the show quotes a reviewer, I think it was "You ain't seen nothing
like the Mighty Quinn", and they go into a rant about the double negative.
Obviously, the sister's last name was Quinn. I immediately recognize the
quote, but either the host (who is old enough to know) nor the duo said
anything to acknowledge that they recognized the quote.

Michael
Inyo
2004-09-30 14:38:40 UTC
Permalink
Subject: "The Mighty Quinn"--What does this song
Was there any sort of social,
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant to be
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't get out
of your head
Yes, there is a religious meaning to "The Mighty Quinn." The song is clearly a
satirical, humorous metaphor for the
Christ/Savior-returns-to-Earth-to-save-the-day prophesy in the Bible.

"The Acoustic Guitar Solitaire Of Inyo"
I play 15 solo, acoustic, insltrumental 6-string guitar renditions--all
available for free download in 128kbps MP3 format
http://members.aol.com/geowrs/music/inyocybercd.html
DianeE
2004-09-30 17:33:05 UTC
Permalink
Post by Inyo
Subject: "The Mighty Quinn"--What does this song
Was there any sort of social,
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant
to
Post by Inyo
be
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't
get
Post by Inyo
out
of your head
Yes, there is a religious meaning to "The Mighty Quinn." The song is clearly a
satirical, humorous metaphor for the
Christ/Savior-returns-to-Earth-to-save-the-day prophesy in the Bible.
-----------
I, OTOH, always assumed Quinn was a cocaine dealer.

When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, everybody's gonna jump for joy.
When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, all the pigeons gonna run to him.
When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, everybody's gonna want a dose.

Eskimo....snow.....cocaine. I didn't know about the Anthony Quinn movie
when the song was popular, only heard about it much later.

I'm not one of these folks who reads drug references into everything by any
means, but this is what the song said to me in 1968.
DianeE
Len Blanks
2004-09-30 17:57:35 UTC
Permalink
Post by DianeE
I, OTOH, always assumed Quinn was a cocaine dealer.
When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, everybody's gonna jump for joy.
When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, all the pigeons gonna run to him.
When Quinn the Eskimo gets here, everybody's gonna want a dose.
Eskimo....snow.....cocaine. I didn't know about the Anthony Quinn
movie when the song was popular, only heard about it much later.
The Inuits have 48 words in their language for cocaine.
Post by DianeE
I'm not one of these folks who reads drug references into everything
by any means, but this is what the song said to me in 1968.
That is understandable; in 1968 we (my mates and I) read drug
references into everything, particularly things by the Lemon Pipers
and the Ohio Express which could only have been produced with drugged
consumers in mind.
--
Len

They are better than the Beatles. They are even better than Budgie and
REO Speedwagen combined -- Lester Bangs on the Mekons
DianeE
2004-10-01 00:53:31 UTC
Permalink
Post by Len Blanks
Post by DianeE
I'm not one of these folks who reads drug references into everything
by any means, but this is what the song said to me in 1968.
That is understandable; in 1968 we (my mates and I) read drug
references into everything, particularly things by the Lemon Pipers
and the Ohio Express which could only have been produced with drugged
consumers in mind.
----------
And now that I have Audacity, I can play them all backwards and find out
what they *really* meant....when I get around to it....some time after I
finish learning all those Inuit words for cocaine.

DianeE
Matthew Montchalin
2004-10-01 04:08:59 UTC
Permalink
DianeE wrote:
|"Len Blanks" <ltb+***@csc.lsu.edu> wrote in message
|news:***@thunk.csc.lsu.edu...
|> TiredOfSpam <DianeE> writes:
|
|>
|> > I'm not one of these folks who reads drug references into everything
|> > by any means, but this is what the song said to me in 1968.
|>
|> That is understandable; in 1968 we (my mates and I) read drug
|> references into everything, particularly things by the Lemon Pipers
|> and the Ohio Express which could only have been produced with drugged
|> consumers in mind.
|----------
|And now that I have Audacity, I can play them all backwards and find out
|what they *really* meant....when I get around to it....some time after I
|finish learning all those Inuit words for cocaine.

Didn't Harper's Bizarre do some backwards recording on their "Knock
on Wood" song? There is that same kind of whooooshing type of jet plane
sound evoking a comparison to the same kind of sound you might find in
Itchy Koo Park by the Small Faces. Is that an artifact of the recording
process (with a low pass filter, prior to playing the tape backwards),
or was it done on purpose?
DannyKewl
2004-10-02 08:10:15 UTC
Permalink
I never heard "Knock On Wood", but the effect on "Itchykoo Park", "Pictures
Of Matchstick Men", and many others is deliberate. It's called flanging or
phase shifting, and was originally done by controlling a flange on a reel to
reel tape deck against an identical copy on another deck. If you have two
turntables hooked into your amplifier so that you can hear them both, and
put a copy of the same record on both. start them together, but carefully
put just enough pressure on one turntable so the speed just minutely varies
against the other turntable, you can flange tunes yourself. I believe the
studios did it with 2 head tape decks where the music would pass over one
head and then the other head, and they would somehow manipulate and mix the
slightly off phase signals to produce the effect. With computers, some of
the better music editing programs, such as Gold Wave will let you do it
digitally. Look in the effects section of editors for flanging or phasing or
phase shifting. You can even add, in effect, an additional chorus to the
song over the original if you tweak the settings, when they're a little too
much out of phase to produce the whooshing effect. Supposedly some say there
is a slight technical difference between flanging and phasing, if so, can't
be much.

--
Post by Matthew Montchalin
|
|>
|> > I'm not one of these folks who reads drug references into everything
|> > by any means, but this is what the song said to me in 1968.
|>
|> That is understandable; in 1968 we (my mates and I) read drug
|> references into everything, particularly things by the Lemon Pipers
|> and the Ohio Express which could only have been produced with drugged
|> consumers in mind.
|----------
|And now that I have Audacity, I can play them all backwards and find out
|what they *really* meant....when I get around to it....some time after I
|finish learning all those Inuit words for cocaine.
Didn't Harper's Bizarre do some backwards recording on their "Knock
on Wood" song? There is that same kind of whooooshing type of jet plane
sound evoking a comparison to the same kind of sound you might find in
Itchy Koo Park by the Small Faces. Is that an artifact of the recording
process (with a low pass filter, prior to playing the tape backwards),
or was it done on purpose?
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
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Matthew Montchalin
2004-10-02 20:56:33 UTC
Permalink
DannyKewl wrote:
|I never heard "Knock On Wood", but the effect on "Itchykoo Park",
|"Pictures Of Matchstick Men", and many others is deliberate.

Yes, okay.

|It's called flanging

hmmmmmmm

|or phase shifting,

And overlaying the shifted waveform back ontop of the original one?

|and was originally done by controlling a flange on a reel to reel tape
|deck against an identical copy on another deck. If you have two turn-
|tables hooked into your amplifier so that you can hear them both,

How about into separate amplifiers? So we can hear them separately?

|and put a copy of the same record on both. start them together, but
|carefully put just enough pressure on one turntable so the speed just
|minutely varies against the other turntable, you can flange tunes
|yourself.

That's like mixing two tapes together, with one tape slightly delayed
in comparison to the other.

|I believe the studios did it with 2 head tape decks where the music
|would pass over one head and then the other head, and they would
|somehow manipulate and mix the slightly off phase signals to produce
|the effect.

This is the part I am curious about. Obviously you wouldn't want to
delay one tape so much that there is an echo, but if you can control
the relative speeds of both tapes before mixing, that would be the
way to do it. If you have lots of different instruments recorded
separately, on their own separate tapes, which admit to flanging better
than others? Woodwinds? And as for recordings that are played
backwards, don't flutes or oboes sound very similar whether they are
playing forward or backward? The whooshing flange sound ought to
easily distinguished from backwards playbacks, I guess, but I don't
have that refined of an ear.

|With computers, some of the better music editing programs, such as
|Gold Wave will let you do it digitally.

Certainly worth looking into.

|Look in the effects section of editors for flanging or phasing or
|phase shifting. You can even add, in effect, an additional chorus to
|the song over the original if you tweak the settings, when they're
|a little too much out of phase to produce the whooshing effect.
|Supposedly some say there is a slight technical difference between
|flanging and phasing, if so, can't be much.

For those of us who can remember the olden days with ring modulation
of sound samples at tenths of a second observing sawtooth waveforms -
c'mon, there's got to be a lot of us out there who can, anybody who
has a used 8 bit computer in an attic can do that - would it be
something like that?

Perhaps somebody out there can suggest more examples of 60s hits
with flanging in them? Is there a comprehensive list out there
somewhere?
Steve Carras
2004-10-03 05:50:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by Whatsgoingon71
If this subject has been touched upon in the past, I am sorry for bringing it
back up again--but this has been bothering me ever since I heard this song at
age ten. I have looked at the lyrics in print and listened to it nearly a
million times and I still don't get the drift. Was there any sort of social,
religious, etc. implication behind the lyrics, or was "Quinn" just meant to be
one of those meaningless novelty songs with a hook that you just can't get out
of your head?
I'd appreciate anyone's two-cents' worth,
Andrea
It just means.."when QUINN THE ESKIMO gets here..." Obviosuly a REAL
ICE AGE song.; (After all the ICE AGE (2002) Mammoth's
named...Manfred)

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