This week, we are going with just a song and no social commentary.  “Puff the Magic Dragon” has become a classic children’s song – enjoyed by adults, as well – and almost everyone knows the words.  Even my year and a half-old grandson, Ryder, knows the words.

Some evil people will tell you that the song is full of drug references, but that is not true.  It is, as I said, a children’s song – about a dragon.  I remember being at a Peter, Paul and Mary concert back in 1965.  When the group started the introduction to “Puff,” I heard someone nearby say, “This song is about pot.”  By coincidence, at just that moment, the performers quit playing and Peter Yarrow said, “This is a children’s song about a dragon.  It is not about drugs.  When I decide to write a song about drugs, I’ll tell you.”  then they started playing again, and sang the song.

As I understand the genesis of “Puff,” back in 1958 or 1959, Peter Yarrow was attending college at Cornell.  His roommate had a friend named Leonard Lipton who had recently read Ogden Nash’s poem, “The Tale of Custard the Dragon.”  (You can read it by clicking here.)   Inspired by that poem, and while visiting at Yarrow’s residence, Lipton made up his own poem about a dragon named Puff, and typed it out on Yarrow’s typewriter.  When he went home, the poem remained on the typewriter.

Peter Yarrow joined Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers to form Peter, Paul and Mary in 1961.  Now, Peter had seen that poem on his typewriter a few years earlier.  He was impressed and modified it to make a song – the one we all know.

In 1962, Peter, Paul and Mary released two popular records, “Lemon Tree” and “If I Had a Hammer.”  They decided to start 1963 (a great year for them, with two hit albums and three Top 10 singles), by releasing “Puff” in January.  Before that happened, Peter did contact Leonard Lipton to tell him about the song, and to give him credit as its co-writer.  Consequently, Lipton has received half of the royalties ever since.

Leonard Lipton seems like an interesting guy.  He has published four books, has produced some 25 independent films and holds about 70 patents, many dealing with processes for 3D film making.  In an interview I read, he says he is not much of a Peter, Paul and May fan.  I assume he appreciates the royalties, nevertheless.

We are not here to talk about Leonard Lipton, though.  This is about Puff.  As I said earlier, everyone already knows the words to Puff, so the version chosen here for Song of the Week is an instrumental – a Hawaiian slack key guitar rendition.

As you know, the song tells us that Puff frolicked in a land called Honnah Lee.  I can’t tell you where to find that on a map, but on the North Shore of the island of Kauai there is a nice little town called Hanalei that sits right next to Hanalei Bay, near the mouth of the Hanalei River.  Cathy and I visited there last September, and it is beautiful.

While there, we attended a concert by a slack key guitar player named Doug McMaster, accompanied by his wife, Sandy, on ukulele.  During the concert’s intermission, we were looking at the McMasters’ CDs, and I noticed one titled In a Land Called Hanalei.  I remarked that this could be Puff’s real home.  Sandy overheard me and asked if I would like to hear Doug play “Puff.”  I said, “Sure.”

At the beginning of the second half of the concert, Sandy told a story about Doug sitting on the beach, playing for passing tourists and locals (and probably chickens since this was Kauai).  Among those listening was a girl about 8 or 9 years old, vacationing with her parents.  She asked Doug to play “Puff”; but he said it was not part of his repertoire.  The girl accepted that excuse and went off to enjoy the beach.  The next year, the same girl, a year older, was again on the North Shore with her family, and Doug was again playing on the beach.  She asked Doug if he had learned “Puff” yet.  He admitted he had not, but told her that if she would come back the next day, he would play it for her.  He worked out his arrangement at home that night, and kept his promise to the girl the very next day.

I wrote a little bit about Doug and Sandy in a comment to a post last year.  You can learn more about them, and purchase some of their excellent music, at their website, mcmasterslackkey.com.

I don’t have a video for this song.  Instead, here is the audio, with a picture of Hanalei Bay:

Puff the Magic Dragon
By Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff, oh!

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff’s gigantic tail
Noble kings and princes would bow whene’er they came
Pirate ships would lower their flags when Puff roared out his name, oh!

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane
Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave, oh!

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee

Copyright Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC