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Puff, the Magic Dragon

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This article is about the song. For the film, see Puff the Magic Dragon (film).
"Puff, the Magic Dragon"
Song

"Puff, the Magic Dragon" is a song written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow, and made popular by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1963 recording. The song achieved great popularity and has entered American and British pop culture.

Lyrics

The lyrics for "Puff, the Magic Dragon" were based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, a 19-year-old Cornell University student.[1] Lipton was inspired by an Ogden Nash poem titled "Custard the Dragon", about a "realio, trulio little pet dragon."

Lipton was friends with Peter Yarrow's housemate when they were all students at Cornell. He used Yarrow's typewriter to get the poem out of his head. He then forgot about it until years later, when a friend called and told him Yarrow was looking for him, to give him credit for the lyrics. On making contact Yarrow gave Lipton half the songwriting credit, and he still gets royalties from the song.

In an effort to be gender-neutral, Yarrow now sings the line "A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys" as "A dragon lives forever, but not so girls and boys." The original poem also had a verse that did not make it into the song. In it, Puff found another child and played with him after returning. Neither Yarrow nor Lipton remember the verse in any detail, and the paper that was left in Yarrow's typewriter in 1958 has since been lost.[2]

In 1961, Yarrow joined Paul Stookey and Mary Travers to form Peter, Paul and Mary. The group incorporated the song into their live performances before recording it in 1962; their 1962 recording of "Puff" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and spent two weeks atop the Billboard easy listening chart in early 1963.[3] It also reached number ten on Billboard's R&B chart.

The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon Puff and his playmate Jackie Paper, a little boy who grows up and loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood and leaves Puff alone and depressed. The story of the song takes place "by the sea" in the fictional land of Honalee (the spelling used by author Lenny Lipton, though nonauthoritative variations abound).

Adaptations

A 1978 animated television special, Puff the Magic Dragon, adapts the song. It was followed by two sequels, Puff and the Land of Living Lies, and Puff and the Incredible Mr. Nobody. In all three films Burgess Meredith voiced Puff.

A 2007 book adaptation of the song's lyrics by Yarrow, Lipton, and illustrator Eric Puybaret gives the story a happier ending with a young girl (presumed by reviewers to be Jackie Paper's daughter)[4] seeking out Puff to become her new companion.

Both tune and elements of the lyrics were adapted in the controversial parody "Barack the Magic Negro", written and recorded by Paul Shanklin for Rush Limbaugh's radio program, and later distributed as a Christmas greeting in 2008 by Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, to members of that group. Composer Peter Yarrow condemned the act as "shocking and saddening in the extreme," stating that "taking a children's song and twisting it in such vulgar, mean-spirited way, is a slur to our entire country and our common agreement to move beyond racism. . . . Puff, himself, if asked, would certainly agree."[5]

Speculation about drug references

After the song's initial success, speculation arose -- as early as a 1964 article in Newsweek -- that the song contained veiled references to smoking marijuana.[6] For example, the word "paper" in the name of Puff's human friend (Jackie Paper) was said to be a reference to rolling papers, and the word "dragon" was interpreted as "draggin'," i.e. inhaling smoke; similarly, the name "Puff" was alleged to be a reference to taking a "puff" on a joint. The supposition was claimed to be common knowledge in a letter by a member of the public to The New York Times in 1984.[7]

The authors of the song have repeatedly rejected this urban legend and have strongly and consistently denied that they intended any references to drug use.[8] Peter Yarrow has frequently explained that "Puff" is about the hardships of growing older and has no relationship to drug-taking.[9] [10] He has also said of the song that it "never had any meaning other than the obvious one" and is about the "loss of innocence".[11]

On one occasion, during a live performance, Yarrow mocked the drug-related interpretations by reciting his own tongue-in-cheek drug-related reinterpretation of "The Star-Spangled Banner", and ended by saying, "You can wreck anything with that kind of idiotic analysis."[citation needed]

In 1976, Yarrow's bandmate Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary also upheld the song's innocence. He recorded a version of the song at the Sydney Opera House in March 1976,[12] in which he set up a fictitious trial scene. The Prosecutor accused the song of being about marijuana, but Puff and Jackie protested. The judge finally leaves the case to the jury (the Opera House audience) and says if they will sing along with the song, it will be acquitted. The audience joins in with Stookey, and at the end of their sing-along, the judge declares "case dismissed."

Four decades after the song's introduction, this myth has become embedded in popular culture, as can be seen from the song's appearance in the 2000 film Meet the Parents, in which a conversation takes place that refers to the song's supposed drug message. However this reference to the song may be accepted as simply a joke and not an actual commentary on its meaning. [13]

Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War the AC-47 Spooky gunship was nicknamed "Puff the Magic Dragon", after the song. The North Vietnamese had named the AC-47 the "Dragon" or "Dragon ship" because of its armament and firepower – the nickname soon caught on, and the American troops began to call the AC-47 "Puff the Magic Dragon".[14]

Cover versions

Building upon and expanding its popularity, the song has been covered by multiple artists, including widely-known performers such as:

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.lennylipton.com/
  2. ^ Songfacts website
  3. ^ The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, 1996
  4. ^ New take on Puff the Magic Dragon
  5. ^ My Response to the Mean-Spirited "Barack the Magic Negro" from The Huffington Post
  6. ^ snopes.com: Puff the Magic Dragon and Marijuana
  7. ^ Magic Dragon's Not-So-Innocuous Puff
  8. ^ Just A Minute With: Peter Yarrow at Reuters.com
  9. ^ Puff, the Magic Dragon at Snopes.com
  10. ^ [1] at Phil Konstantin's website interview on KUSI TV
  11. ^ puff the magic dragon (live) at YouTube.com
  12. ^ Released in 1977 on the album "Real to Reel" and distributed by Sparrow Records.
  13. ^ Memorable quotes for Meet the Parents at imdb.com
  14. ^ AC-47, retrieved 2009-09-18
  15. ^ Bing Crosby Discography: 1956-77
  16. ^ Another Comp For The Indie Kids, And A Reminder Of How Broken Social Scene Can Be Unsafe For Children - Stereogum
  17. ^ YouTube - Barack The Magic Negro
  18. ^ Push the Magic Button songlist, Computer History Museum archives
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