Contrary to the urban legend, the lyrics of the song are not a drug reference; rather, they talk about the loss of childhood innocence and wonder.
Puff was a flying dragon that lived inside Jackie Paper’s imagination. Jackie was a little boy who played, as children do, in a made-up world. It’s only when they grow up that they discard such made-up worlds, and Puff crawling back to his cave is indicative of this change. Peter Yarrow said in a YouTube interview that the song speaks to our vulnerability and innocence. He recommends never losing our link to that innocence as we grow up. “Keeping our dragon close” can be a calming influence on our lives. Yarrow also pointed out that the group sang the song during the riots at the Democratic National Convention in 1968, hoping to quell the violence. Although the group was not entirely successful in that endeavor, it still helped to defuse things somewhat.
The Cannabis Myth
Because cannabis smokers “puff,” and also because smokers roll their own cannabis cigarettes with rolling papers, there cropped up the idea that the song was a celebration of getting high and that Jackie’s imaginary world was created in a drug-fueled haze. Each member of the group has vigorously denied this idea. To them, it was inspired by two poems about dragons: Ogden Nash’s “ The Tale of Custard, the Dragon” and the other Lenny Lipton’s untitled poem that eventually morphed into the song. Lipton’s dragon didn’t eat a pirate or cry for a nice, safe cage, but it inspired Yarrow in the same way that Nash inspired Lipton. There was another verse to the poem that didn’t make it into the song, and that verse saw Puff find another child as a playmate. Interestingly, the makers of “Toy Story 2” incorporated that into the storyline involving Jess the Cowgirl.
Chart Performance
On the Billboard Hot 100, the song was No. 2, and it was No. 1 among Billboard’s Middle-Road Singles. The song finished 1962 at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a modest success around the world at the time of its release. The highest chart position it achieved was No. 3 in New Zealand. Four years after the song came out, Benny Andersson, who was later in ABBA, produced the song for the group known as Fabulous Four. He did a pastiche of “Puff” and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” and the song became a No. 1 hit in Andersson’s native Sweden.
Lyrics
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah 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 Honah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist, in a land called Honah 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 whenever 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 Honah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist, in a land called Honah Lee
A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant’s rings make way for other toys
One gray 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 lifelong 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 Honah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist, in a land called Honah Lee
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Leonard Lipton / Peter Yarrow
Puff the Magic Dragon lyrics © Honalee Melodies, Silver Dawn Music
