The supposition was claimed to be common knowledge in a letter by a member of the public to The New York Times in 1984. Similarly, the name "Puff" was alleged to be a reference to taking a "puff" on a joint. The word "paper" in the name of Puff's human friend Jackie Paper was said to be a reference to rolling papers, the words "by the sea" were interpreted as "by the C" (as in cannabis), the word "mist" stood for "smoke", the land of "Honahlee" stood for hashish, and "dragon" was interpreted as "draggin'" (i.e., inhaling smoke). Reception Ĭash Box described it as "a charming folk tune, about a magic dragon, right-up-the-vocal-alley of the remarkably successful folksters." Speculation about drug references Īfter the song's initial success, speculation arose-as early as a 1964 article in Newsweek-that the song contained veiled references to smoking marijuana. Neither Yarrow nor Lipton remembers the verse in detail, and the paper left in Yarrow's typewriter in 1958 has since been lost. In it, Puff found another child and played with him. The original poem also had a stanza that was not incorporated into the song. 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", to be fair to boys and girls. On making contact, Yarrow gave Lipton half the songwriting credit, and he received royalties to the song until his death in 2022. 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. He used Yarrow's typewriter to get the poem out of his head. Lipton was friends with Yarrow's housemate when they were all students at Cornell. The song's story takes place "by the sea" in the fictional land of "Honah Lee". The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon, Puff, and his playmate, Jackie Paper, a little boy who grows up and moves on from the imaginary adventures of childhood, leaving a disheartened Puff on his own. Lipton was inspired by an Ogden Nash poem titled " The Tale of Custard the Dragon", about a "realio, trulio little pet dragon". The lyrics for "Puff, the Magic Dragon" are based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, then a 19-year-old Cornell University student.
After the song was released, Yarrow searched for Lipton to give him credit for the song. Lipton wrote a poem about a dragon in 1959, and when Yarrow found it, he wrote the lyrics to "Puff" based on the poem. It was made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1962 recording released in January 1963. " Puff, the Magic Dragon" (or just " Puff") is a song written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary from a poem by Leonard Lipton. Not to be confused with Piff the Magic Dragon or Stuff the Magic Dragon.
0 kommentar(er)
