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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
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.
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 when they came,
Pirate ships would lower their flag when Puff roared out his name.
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 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.
Puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea,
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee.
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Puff, the Magic Dragon" was written by Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton and first recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963. Lipton had written the original poem as a student at Cornell University and left it behind in Yarrow's room; Yarrow set it to music and the song became one of the most beloved folk compositions of the twentieth century.
The song tells the story of a friendship between a dragon named Puff and a boy called Jackie Paper who brings him gifts and adventures. As Jackie grows older he stops visiting, and Puff retreats in grief to his cave. The song is a meditation on childhood, imagination, and the cost of growing up — the loss of Puff is the loss of that world of play and wonder that cannot survive into adult life.
The dragon's name came from a verse Lipton had read about a little dragon named Puff. Honah Lee, the land where they lived, was inspired partly by Hawaii and partly by the dreamlike geography of childhood imagination. The song was for many years subject to false rumours about hidden meanings; the authors consistently and firmly denied these, pointing to the song's actual subject — the end of innocence — which is both simpler and more genuinely moving than any alternative interpretation.
