Puff the Magic Dragon

DESCRIPTION: Puff the magic dragon "lived by the sea" and played with a boy named little Jackie Paper. They travel the world and have improbable adventures. But one day Jackie Paper stops visiting and Puff is depressed
AUTHOR: Peter Yarrow, based on a poem by Leonard Lipton (sources: Wikipedia and otehrs)
EARLIEST DATE: 1963 (copyright)
KEYWORDS: animal travel campsong
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 107, 540, "Puff the Magic Dragon" (notes only)
DT, PUFFDRGN*
SAME TUNE:
Ralph the Magic Seagull (cf. Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 254)
NOTES [174 words]: Obviously a pure pop song. I never thought I would be including it in the Index! But Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs lists so many versions (29) that I'm reluctantly listing it here, in part to sneer about it. Averill lists no dates for these collections; I can't help but wonder how many were from the 1960s. If people were still singing it circa, say, 1990, I'd be a lot more impressed.
Averill notes that this was banned at many camps, because of the perceived connection with marijuana use. I'll admit I've always wondered about that. The hints in the lyrics are, obviously, strong -- but I've never heard of Peter Yarrow producing anything else on the topic. And note that Little Jackie Paper eventually gave up, er, puffing. So is that pro- or anti-marijuana? Yarrow and Lipton both said the song was not about drugs.
I've also heard that the "Honalee" in the song is a code for a girl named "Hannah Lee." This strikes me as not impossible, but given Yarrow's now well-documented relations with underage women, that may be unfortunate also. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: DTpuffdr

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