In honor of Peter Yarrow’s passing, today’s classic song of the day is one of his most popular compositions, “Puff, the Magic Dragon.” Peter, Paul and Mary released “Puff” as a single in January of 1963 and it went to #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Middle-Road Singles chart. It became an instant classic, sung to and by children of all ages for decades.
Peter Yarrow wrote “Puff, the Magic Dragon” as a simple children’s song, commenting on the fleeting nature of youth. He based the song on a poem by a friend of his, poet Leonard Lipton. Lipton was just 19 years old when he wrote the poem, in 1959, and he himself drew inspiration from Ogden Nash’s poem, “The Tale of Custard the Dragon.”
(People have speculated that “Puff” was about smoking marijuana, but Yarrow long denied this. In fact, the reference to Lipton’s original poem belies this interpretation.)
“Puff, the Magic Dragon” is one of those songs that make me tear up every time I hear or play it. The song itself is simple enough for most about anybody to play on guitar, and the lyrics tell the simple story of a boy named Jackie Paper and his imaginary dragon friend, Puff. The part that always gets me—and anybody else of a certain age—is when Jackie grows up and doesn’t need his imaginary friend any more. What happens to our imaginary friends when we no longer imagine them? As they lyrics put it:
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 Honahlee
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honahlee
Peter Yarrow was one-third of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. (He was the Peter part; Noah Paul Stookey was the Paul and Mary Travers was the Mary.) Born in 1938, Peter went to New York’s High School of Music and Art (of Fame fame) and then to Cornell University. He started singing and playing guitar in various New York City folk clubs in the late ’50s, hanging out with the new crop of contemporary folksingers. Through mutual friend, impresario Albert Grossman, Yarrow met up with Stookey and Travers to form what they initially envisioned as “an updated version of the Weavers for the baby-boom generation… with the crossover appeal of the Kingston Trio.”
The newly formed trio debuted in 1961 at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village. Soon after, they signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. and started releasing hit after hit. Music lovers flocked to hear the group live and on record. Their repertoire included covers of classic and contemporary folk songs as well as a bunch of originals, including “Lemon Tree,” “If I Had a Hammer,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” “Early Morning Rain,” “Day is Done” (which Yarrow wrote), “I Dig Rock and Roll Music,” and their biggest hit, a cover of John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” On his own, Yarrow also co-wrote and produced “Torn Between Two Lovers,” a number-one hit for Mary McGregor in 1976.
In addition to being a successful and respected folk musician, Peter Yarrow was a dedicated activist for various social and political causes. He helped organize the group’s performance at the 1969 March on Washington and was a very vocal opponent of the war in Vietnam. In 2000 he founded Operation Respect to help combat bullying in schools and, throughout the years, supported progressive politicians both local and national.
Peter, Paul and Mary broke up for awhile in the ’70s, but reformed late in the decade and continued to perform until 2009, when Mary Travers passed away at the age of 72. Peter Yarrow continued playing on his own and with others until he passed away of bladder cancer on January 7, 2025. He was 86 years old.
And here’s your very special daily bonus video of the day, Peter Yarrow and his friends Paul and Mary performing “Puff, the Magic Dragon” at their 25th Anniversary Concert in 1986. Older and wiser are they and we, which makes “Puff” all the more poignant. Thank you for the magic, Peter Yarrow.
