The Story In The Song Puff The Magic Dragon

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A song about a magical friendly dragon and his human friend, Jackie Paper should be a really happy tune but when you pay attention to the lyrics it is actually terribly sad. Puff lives in a land called Honah Lee, which Jackie Paper somehow bisits, giving Puff gifts of string and ceiling wax. (a reference to Lewis Carroll's The Walrus & The Carpenter which also mentions these artifacts), They sailed the seas on a boat together, visiting kings and queens, and even pirate ships would lower their flags to show they respected the pair as they sailed by. So far, all very delightful, but then it turns sad. Puff is immortal. Children are not. Jackie Piper grows up. He loses interest in his childhood toys and adventures. One night Jackie fails to meet his friend in Honah Lee. Puff is heartbroken, stops roaring, His scales fall off and he stonever to be seen again. ps visiting the Cherry Lane (another place he & Jackie played). He slips away into his cave, never to be seen again. I heard this song a lot in my childhood but never realized for years that it was about growing up and abandoning fantasy. I'm pretty sure if I knew Puff I'd still be visiting him now. I still love such fantasy too much. The youtube is the original version of the song by Peter, Paul & Mary, from 1962 but it has been covered many times, including a version by the Mamas & Papas. It started out as a poem written by Leonard Lipton in 1957. Peter Yarrow set it to music and tracked down the poet to give him writing credit and get permission to use it. The rest is history. An earlier version of the song has Puff simply find other children to befriend but the writers went with the idea of Puff simply retreating into the cave instead. The song is sometimes accused of having lots of drug references, dragon, Puff (smoking), and Paper referring to roll up reefer papers. It remains a great song of the end of childhood fantasy dreaming though. Arthur Chappell