Lyrics[edit]

The lyrics for "Puff, the Magic Dragon" are based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, then a
19-year-old Cornell University student.[3] Lipton was inspired by an Ogden Nash poem titled
"Custard the Dragon", about a "realio, trulio little pet dragon".[4][5][6]
The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon Puff and his playmate, Jackie Paper, a little boy
who grows up and loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood and leaves Puff to
be with himself. (The line "A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys" is generally thought
to imply only that "little Jackie Paper" grew up.) The story of the song takes place "by the
sea" in the fictional land of "Honahlee".
Lipton was friends with Peter Yarrow's housemate when they were all students at Cornell.
He used Yarrow's typewriter to get the poem out of his head. 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. On making contact Yarrow gave Lipton half the songwriting credit, and he still
gets royalties from the song.
In an effort to be gender-neutral, 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." The original poem also
had a stanza that was not incorporated into the song. In it, Puff found another child and
played with him after returning. Neither Yarrow nor Lipton remembers the verse in any detail,
and the paper that was left in Yarrow's typewriter in 1958 has since been lost.[5]

Speculation about drug references[edit]

After the song's initial success, speculation arose — as early as a 1964 article
in Newsweek — that the song contained veiled references to smoking marijuana.[7] 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 cocaine), the
word "mist" stood for "smoke", the land of "Honahlee" stood for hashish, and the word
"dragon" was interpreted as "draggin'," i.e. inhaling smoke; similarly, the name "Puff" was
alleged to be a reference to taking a "puff" on a joint. The supposition was claimed to be
common knowledge in a letter by a member of the public to The New York Times in
1984.[8][9] The authors of the song have repeatedly rejected this interpretation and have
strongly and consistently denied that they intended any references to drug use.[10] Both
Leonard Lipton and lead singer Peter Yarrow have stated "Puff the Magic Dragon is not
about drugs."[11] Yarrow has frequently explained that the song is about the hardships of
growing older and has no relationship to drug-taking.[12][13] He has also said of the song that it
"never had any meaning other than the obvious one" and is about the "loss of innocence in
children",[14] and dismissed the suggestion of association with drugs as "sloppy research".[15]
In 1973, Yarrow's bandmate Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary also upheld the song's
innocence. He recorded a version of the song at the Sydney Opera House in March
1973,[16] in which he set up a fictitious trial scene. The Prosecutor accused the song of being
about marijuana, but Puff and Jackie protested. The judge finally left the case to the jury (the
Opera House audience) and said if they will sing along with the song, it would be acquitted.
The audience joined in with Stookey, and at the end of their sing-along, the judge declared:
"case dismissed."[17]

Notable recordings and chart performance[edit]

 In 1961, Peter Yarrow joined Paul Stookey and Mary Travers to form Peter, Paul and
Mary. The group incorporated the song into their live performances before recording it in
1962. The trio's 1962 recording of "Puff the Magic Dragon" entered the top 40 of
the Billboard Hot 100 charts on March 30, 1963 and peaked at No. 2, kept out of the No.
1 spot by I Will Follow Him by Little Peggy March.[18] It topped Billboard's Adult
Contemporary charts.[19] It also reached number ten on Billboard's R&B chart.[20]

Adaptations[edit]
A 1978 animated television special, Puff the Magic Dragon, adapted the song. It was
followed by two sequels, Puff the Magic Dragon in the Land of the Living Lies and Puff and
the Incredible Mr. Nobody. In all three films Burgess Meredith voiced Puff. In December
2016, it was announced that Fox Animation will produce a live-action/animation film based
on the song with Mike Mitchell as director.[21][needs update]
The song was adapted for a children's pantomime, which played at Sydney's Seymour
Centre in 1983.[22]
In September, 1979, there was a picture book version of the short that used pictures based
on the animated feature. It was published by Avon Books and dedicated to Peter, Paul, and
Mary. The book featured words and sheet music to several songs that were featured in the
short at the back of the book. This included The Boat Song and Weave Me the Sunshine.
The book also used the use of the original song throughout the book as the short had.
A 2007 book adaptation of the song's lyrics by Yarrow, Lipton, and illustrator Eric
Puybaret gives the story a happier ending with a young girl (presumed by reviewers to be
Jackie Paper's daughter)[23] seeking out Puff to become her new companion. The lyrics
remain unchanged from the Peter Paul and Mary version; the young girl is only seen in the
pictures by illustrator Puybaret. On the last page of the book, she is introduced to Puff by an
older Jackie Paper.
The tune was used in the promotional LP Push the Magic Button for the track with the same
name by Versatec, a computer printer company[24]