Loved to listen to this as a kid.
The metaphor seems so obvious, it’s hard to imagine denying it.
I don’t know how anyone reading the lyrics could think this is about LSD.
To me, it reads like AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh
RIP Peter Yarrow.
Wasn’t that the song that idiot algore’s wife condemned as a drug song?
I still recall the ridicule she got.
However, Puff did not. According to "Emperor" Bob Hudson, a disc jockey on KRLA also known as Beautiful Bob, Puff was killed in Hanalei Bay by dragon hunters in 1982.
thanks for that. a bunch of lefties(as was i in the mid 60’s) that had a nice harmonious sound.
Written by the recently departed Peter Yarrow. A noted Commie. Also a noted pedophile.
There was already a thread on the songwriter.
Why another one?
My PPM Story:
I was working at an English school in Tokyo in the 90s, training new teachers and developing material. An instructor in a small northern province suddenly quit so I went up there to plug the slot until a new teacher could be trained. She had left the school in a mess and hadn’t been doing her job well, so I was busy organizing the materials and getting the classes in order. There was a student who hadn’t been coming to class. The notes said he was ‘wild and unkempt’. Unusual for a Japanese kid. Finally, he showed up and peeked in the windows and doors, finally, gliding in through an open window, wary and ready to flee at a moment’s notice. It took 3 months, but I got him into the circle of youngsters and doing homework. Eventually, he even wrote, memorized, and delivered a speech in English at a contest and won an award.
The replacement teacher came, and I went back to Tokyo and my old job at the main office. One day, there was a commotion in the reception area as there was a blustery Yakuza (mafia) type that had come in wanting to talk to me. He introduced himself as the father of the boy that had won the speech contest! He said the boy had really turned himself around and was doing well in school and was staying out of trouble. The father wanted to thank me by giving me 2 front row tickets to see Peter Paul and Mary, who would be performing in Tokyo the following week.
The show was awesome, as you would expect. Later the Yakuza guy took me back to the green room to meet the 3 performers. Come to find out, he was a good and longtime friend of Paul Stookey. They had attended the weddings of each other’s children.
It was a fine memory for me and capped a successful episode in my efforts as a teacher.
Saddest song ever.
When I hear or read about Puff,the magic dragon I think of an AC-47 gunship of the Vietnam war.The birds were transfered to the SVAF upon our conclusion of involvement and were captured by the NVA around 75.Shame non are in the states now..
We had the 45 when I was a kid. My brother played it incessantly, and it got a scratch…
Puff the magic dragon
gic dragon
gic dragon
gic dragon
gic dragon
The worst part was deciding whether to throw something heavy at him, or shut the record player, because each left something important undone.
That STILL goes through my head whenever I hear it …or someone posts about it. Thanks a friggin’ load!
The song is sad. It’s about when boys grow up and leave childish things behind. Their fascination goes from Puff the Magic Dragon to Tiffany the Nasty Pussy.
Pretty awesome lyrics!