This was definitely written for children, hence the simple chords. Peter Paul and Mary released a children's album in the 60s, Peter, Paul, and Mommy, and this was featured on that album. And you nailed the meaning; it's about the loose of imagination as children grow up. A really cool folk song is Woodstock by Joni Mitchell, which is a historical account of that renowned 60's music festival. If you react to it, please do the 1970 live version, as she explains a bit about the song before performing it. Cheers!

First song that gave me real feelings as a little kid. Four years old and I'd tear up at "dragons live forever, but not so little boys." I already had a sense of my own mortality at that age, so I would always be sad at such references. Beautiful, gentle song.

Nope, it's not about pot. It's about lost childhood innocence - per the songwriter.

As an adult, the line, “A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys,” gets me every time.

I love this song! I can’t listen to song without crying - it’s a coming of age story. Not about pot smoking.

It's a song about innocence, imagination, and wonder. No more and no less.

Released as part of a children’s album. It’s a children’s song. But boy was it played on popular radio ALLOT.

What an interesting choice. This is the music of my kindergarten. It was a huge hit and it certainly functioned as a children's song at any rate, although the double entendre was always around apparently. But yeah man they even had us sing this in group singing in kindergarten. They were telling us that we should never lose our imaginations and if that aged man we're all about imagination for sure. Plus it's just so catchy. But it was huge man it was on the radio all the time and everything.

It was written as a children's songs for adults - to relive your youth. It came out when weed was just becoming a thing so it was labeled as such. It was the name US troops in Vietnam for the A 47 gun ship. In the end is a great song to remember your youth

the older you get,the further away from those days of the wonder and imagination of childhood,the more relatable this song becomes. it speaks to the child who still lives in all of us. oh to be young again.

Good grief: NEVER, in a million years, did I expect to see you react to this 55 year old folk song for children. A lovely little song….and no, it was NOT about drugs. About growing up…perhaps losing the imagination of being a child. I always felt sorry for Puff……a companion discarded on the way to maturity.

This song always tugged at my heart for Puff. It reminds me alot of a book called The Giving Tree by Shel Sivertstein. I read it as adult, put it down and burst into tears.

The theme was taken up by the Toy Story franchise: a beloved toy eventually discarded as its owner grew towards adulthood where imagination is eventually quashed by the realities of life.

When I was a kid (1962) we had a young man in town dying from leukaemia so we had a Danny Thomas money drive to help the boy. The kids that raised money got to go into San Francisco and see a concert by Peter ,Paul and Mary to thank us. They sang this song and I fell in love with it.

I’ve watched dozens of your videos and just now noticed the keyboard in front of you! Good discussion of the timeless song. Thank you, I think you naiiled it.

You had to have first heard this as a little kid. I was in elementary school, and for me, this was a sad song about a boy and his dragon. I never got the drug references, even as a grown-up.

Another song about childhood imagination, is House at Pooh Corner by Loggins and Messina. This one was from the perspective of an adult looking back on their childhood "adventures". Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina have several good songs that came from their time working together.

This song always gets to me. One bc my dad used to it sing it to me while playing his guitar. He died when I was 6, so... sad little kid song ✔ lost childhood innocence ✔

I am 72 now & am still known to burst out singing this, my grandson thinks I am "silly", an old Hippy & a crazy granddad. However I never thought it was about weed either.

Peter, Paul and Mary was my mother's favorite group while I was a kid in the 60s. This song was on one of the records. As a little kid I loved it, but it was also sad. It's about growing up, even if you don't want to. A children's television show, Captain Kangaroo, would occasionally play it with a cartoon background. Did the group know about Mary Jane? Of course. But if you looked at their body of work, you would see that they were simply a great folk group with a definitive sound and traditional lyrics. This song was simply highjacked, which is fine. If you want to show an example of a song from the era that hides drugs in plain sight, in a song, look no further than Tamborine Man by Dylan. Every line describes a trip on LSD. I miss those Jingle Jangle Mornings after a night trip. Only Bobby could capture, poetically, what the experience is like.

My favorite song in the mid 60s when I was 5 years old. A children's song. A wonderful children's song

I'm amazed and thrilled that you reacted to this. I was born in '62 and this is one of my very earliest childhood musical memories. I honestly wouldn't expect you to be into it, but it has a special place in my heart. So thanks :).

Loved this song, as a child. Still love it's gentle sweet encouraging message. Respect to you for listening to this. For me there is no dicotomy. Peter Paul and Mary, Led Zeppelin, Doors, CCR, Tina Turner, Elton John, Deep Purple, David Bowie, The Who, Pink Floyd, Chicago, Roberta Flack, The Kinks, Rolling Stones Areathla Franklin, Peter Paul and Mary, T Rex, Yes, Cream, The Carpenters, Deep Purple, America, Kansas, Captain and Tenille, The Righteous Brothers, Tom Jones, Cher, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, King Crimson , Dion Warwick, Chicago, America, Tommy James and the Sondells, Evis, the Lettermen, Herb Alpert. Live and appreciate

A real hard core drug song alright...did you ever hear the one about "Teensy Weensy Spider" being about a victim of arachnophobia?

It's a children's song... pretty good one i suppose

Lenny Lipton was also author of several very influential books about film-making, as well as pioneering a 3D movie technology that ultimately became the most widely used theatrical 3d projection in the world.

The song came out in 1963, well before the casual use of marijuana. It was a song many of the younger generation had heard in innocent years. The drug reference came about a few years later when pot smoking had hit the general public.

In Vietnam, there was a heavily armed helicopter gunship named Puff the Magic Dragon. A better song of theirs was "Leaving on a Jet Plane".

I really enjoyed these insightful lyricsl analyses.

There were drug songs from that era that use coded language so you could sing it openly but then were also songs like Puff that were innocent songs but people would try to read drugs into the lyrics. The song is about the loss of childhood innocence. A dragon lives forever but not so little boys.

Syed, as I said before, what an interesting choice. But it just dawned on me, and I've been watching your reactions from pretty-much really early on, and I've definitely been through the Bob Dylan hourney with you, but standing in stark contrast to this Puff the Magic Dragon song, which is also quite iconic for sure, is a very interesting story and some good music: There was an older guy when Bob Dylan was young and finally hit Greenwich Village. His name was Paul Seibel and he was part of the older folk scene and apparently at some point he registered some discontent that he felt like Bob Dylan as a very young man waltzed into their scene and just kind of borrowed a lot of stuff from it and then projected it without ever giving credit. Who knows. It could just be sour grapes, there might be a grain of truth to it. Somebody like Bob Dylan is going to assimilate everything he runs across, which is what I have always done musically as well. You just have a thirst for everything. And I bet he really identified with the scene. But this guy y released one of those albums that wasn't immediately well known in larger circles, but, over time, critics have come to regard it as incredible. And I feel the same. It's called Woodsmoke and Oranges. He is an older folk singer at this time in the Greenwich Village scene when Bob Dylan is young. But this song to me not only really tugs at my heart, the sarcasm and the just intensity of it behind this pulled back acoustic folk veneer, is just scathing. And it still holds true today in so many ways.

Legends of Folk music of the 60's....really like this especially when you are on the Bud!!! lol

I did love this song when I was 5 -7, I think that is when this came out, used to just listen to it over and over. Just loved the harmonies. I was taking piano lessons at 6, so I was into music.

I can see affinity between hip-hop and folk music: story-telling, and the focus on lyrics. . Re. lyrics of Puff: Not a lot of psychedelia in 1959, when it comes right down to it.

Love this song

I had a copy of the book with the music pages included when i was very young. I can still remember my mom reading and singing it more times than she probably wanted for bedtime.

Totally a children's song. The "hidden meaning" thing didn't start until years after.

Spot on, comrade. 🤟 No 'substances' involved, for Christ's sake, it's just a bloody parable! Why do we always have to overthink things?

PP&M occasionally dabbled in rock-oriented numbers, the best ones being their cover of Dylan's Too Much Of Nothing and an original of theirs called I Dig Rock & Roll Music, which includes their imitations of The Mamas & The Papas, Donovan and The Beatles.

m.kzfaq.info/get/bejne/atRkkrtyusnMenU.html&pp=ygUWUGF1bCBTZWliZWwgaG9uZXN0IERhbg%3D%3D This is the song from possible, the older folk singer in the Greenwich Village scene when Bob Dylan came through there when he was young. It's also acoustic but it's so adult and skating and still holds true today. The Ballad of Honest Sam.

Love you! Tell it like it is.

There's a theory that Puff was a kite. Jackie Paper brought him string and sealing wax. Used for kites.

When I was nine years old (forth grade) I was in a chorus at school and we were invited on TV! We sang this on the Ramblin' Rod Show in Portland, OR. I have never felt a connection to pot in the song. I think Jackie Paper grew up and became Jumpin' Jack Flash.

We sang this in school. Along the way, pot was attached to the story and was banned A myth

React to Blowing in the Wind by Peter Paul and Mary written by Bob Dylan

Good reaction! I appreciate your honesty that it's not your thing, but can still see the quality before you! Personally, I love this track. It is a tale of lost innocence - how children's boundless imagination will someday come to an end. I have a storybook of this song that was gifted to me by my best friend on the birth of my first child, and read to him and his brother, and eventually his sister. It came with a CD of Peter Yarrow singing the song (nearly identical to this version). In the book - on one of the last pages, as the final chorus' are sung, a little girl happens upon Puff, and the cycle begins again. The illustration shows Puff as happy that he's been rediscovered. Call it mushy sentiment, or a dad reflecting on his own kids getting older, but that visual always touched me. Sure it's a simple tune, but most folk ditties are. And yes, any correlation one has to seeing this as a weed based song is a stretch. Cheers.

Little kids liked it a lot, but I Liked Roy Orbison & Hank Williams more. It was in a time of Do wop Dion and Motown music. I was still a teen myself Syed.... You do a good review Keep it up ! Amelas One

I'm glad you enjoy folk music. I grew up on my older brother playing folk guitar. Try Ian and Sylvia, other PP&M (Early Morning Rain).

The rumor took off and Hong Kong and Singapore actually banned the song based on "possible" drug reference.

If you continue on a Peter Paul & Mary road, there are many that would be worthwhile. On your Dylan trail, you could start with "Don't Think Twice". They covered many great songwriters, including Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, etc.

George Carlin did a bit about Puff being a drug song. "Puff, the magic drag-in". He went on to say other songs were also about drugs... "oh say can you C - 'c' us for co**ine... By the dawn's early light - a favorite time for users", etc. It's a hilarious bit, and of course he was showing how ridiculous it was for Puff to get such a bad rap. Now, if you have to ask who George Carlin is... man, am I getting old!

Oh man, the look on your face had me in stitches! It is just a rather twee childrens song. Not your normal stuff, I'm sure! :)

Lovely music. Insufferable activists for totalitarians.

It's a children's story .. it's not meant to be a banger :)

Honalee is near Luton.

But thanks for reacting to it. I admit I dont love it like I enjoyed it as a preteen, and I admit I fast-forwarded it just now,10 and 0 seconds, a couple of times, but the reaction made my heart happy, for some reason.

This came out in the 60s during the free love and LSD period and that might have had a lot to do with this goofy idea about it being a drug song. A little too much imagination and smoke if you ask me.

Try their song "If I had a Hammer

When Boomers think of Folk Music, the names that come up first are Bob Dylan, Kingston Trio and Peter Paul and Mary. PPM have fully insisted Puff is NOT about drugs or weed...it's a stupid fable someone started a few years later. Anyone who believes that stupid weed story is a parrot and an idiot. It's a children's song, about growing up, period. I saw PPM in concert in 1986. They always saved this song for the encore....and the entire audience would sing it.

Check out Greenfields by brothers four.

When are you going to continue The Beatles reactions? Thanks

WTF? Syed, you made me laugh when I saw this. This is So a kids song, a simple fairy story with a sweet little melody. Never liked this song though, even as a kid who grew up on this stuff. In the late 1950's and into the 1960's there was a genre of novelty records, innocuous songs that sold a ton, usually famous actors or comedians who were talked into recording cash -in singles. Ones that unfortunately still linger in my traumatised mind are songs such as 'The chipmunk song', 'Does your chewing gum loose it's flavour (on the bedpost overnight)', 'Goodness gracious me' , 'Itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini', 'My brother', 'The mole in the hole', 'My old man's a dustman', 'I'm Henry the Eighth, I am', 'My boomerang won't come back', and 'Donald, where's your troosers?'. These are not suggestions BTW, please get back on track Syed, as I can't afford the therapy. !!!

If it’s PPAnd M it’s not drugs

Try listening to Red Balloon by Tim Hardin if you really want to hear 1960's style folk song that's genuinely about drug taking.

Think about paper,and glue and rolling. Maybe a reach but a fun song for kids regardless.

If you're determined to analyze the hidden meanings of song lyrics, check out the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" and have a field day!

Now you owe us one lol. Try "Revolution Blues" by Neil Young. Not much longer, but it creates a whole mythology in four minutes. THAT is a fairy tale.

Mary's name wasn't changed but Peter and Paul weren't their real names. Their manager Albert Grossman put the band together and dictated their style. He managed Dylan, the Band, Gordon Lightfoot and more. Many thought him greedy. Dylan fired him in July of 1970 after finding out he was taking 50% of Bob's song publishing rights. Btw, cute thumbnail.

To me it was just a sweet song for children like me back then. But certainly melodically.

Syed, when I was a child, I felt that this song was unlistenable. I can't believe you did a reaction video to this.

Well analysed, Syed. This drug bollox is just that, bollox. I'm no hip hop fan but this has too much saccharin for me.

Lol... yeah...

This song is not your cup of tea - but then you didn't hear it when you were 3 years old back before digital recording or sampling.

Bob Dylan

I agree with you. I think this whole drug stuff is just plain bullshit.

Find the movie.

Little Jackie paper............

Masters of War by Bob Dylan, now THATS’s a folk song. Second choice, The Stranger Song by Leonard Cohen. For real folk music though, search for the old IWW songs, for Woody Guthrie, maybe These Fascists Bound to Lose or The Preacher and the Slave

Syed, we all generally really enjoy your insightful commentary on songs, even if we disagree. However, here we are waiting for you to start digging into the most exciting phase of the zeppelin catalog, or maybe more stones, who, or maybe some other classic rock discovery (there’s so much great popular music to explore - it’s endless), and here you are wasting air time on Puff, the Magic Dragon. That’s called jumping the shark here in the states. I think I have a right to be critical because I’m a subscriber of your program, and can give you feedback. I’m a big fan, and I enjoy your intelligent commentaries, but please keep it interesting?

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,,,,🤔🤔🤔🤪👍🍄

Its not a drug song. Peter Paul and Mary weren't like that. Dont read too much into it

The topic of this song has been discussed ad nauseam since it was first released. The notion that it was a drug song is preposterous and was promulgated chiefly by the powers that be who were fearful of the '60s drug culture. The reaction to it was much like the idiotic and insane hunt for communists during the '50s and '60s as well as the hysterical reaction that met The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life"! "Puff the Magic Dragon" was simply an innocent children's song and nothing more. Peter Yarrow used to ridicule the Chicken Little hand wringers by using the same sort of overwrought drug inflected interpretation and applying it to The Star Spangled Banner. It was a tour de force! Incidentally, PP&M were known for indulging in children songs by applying their brilliant vocal harmonies and arrangements to songs like "Leatherwing Bat", "It's Raining, It's Pouring", "Marvelous Toy", "I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor", "I Have a Song to Sing, O", and Peter Yarrow's thoughtful "The Day is Done". I should add that PP&M were more than folk singers singing cute songs. They were serious artists and at the forefront of the civil rights movement (along with another folk singer, Joan Baez). Their interpretations of classic Dylan songs like "Blowin' In the Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" are definitive. They also had a hit with Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer" which is hardly a children's song! Moreover, many of their later songs were quite topical. You might check out their album Album 1700 with songs like Peter Yarrow's "The Great Mandella" touching on the war in Vietnam and the social upheaval that war caused. Loneliness is another theme in a song like "Weep for Jamie"...and nostalgia and regret in a song like Dyan's "Bob Dylan's Dream"... or Mary's plaintive "No Other Name". Their album Late Again is also chock full of serious and deep songs. Anyway, this kerfuffle reminds me of the 1960s Paul (McCartney of the Beatles) is Dead idiocy...which some people are STILL talking about. These notions take on a life of their own and NEVER die!!

I think Jackie Paper threw people off too, for rolling joints.

Sweet or sneaky--why can't it be both? It seems pretty clear to me that this is a pretty song that, once you listen closely, is full of weed references. Perhaps it is subversive by inserting those references into what seems a simple song. Think Steely Dan. 🤔 Let's look at possible weed references: puff, drag-on autumn mist (burning leaves) paper (rolling) Johnny moves on to other things (drugs) green scales (weed) Like all art, the interpretation is left to the audience. I see weed. 😁

I think you should stop trying fok singers that are not Bob Dylan. Your ears (and brain) have been trained to love bombast and edge by your unfortunate dalliance with hip hop. Loud guitars probably titillate you in the same way that drums and rapping do. You are not going to find it in folk music. One of the things we have lost since the 70s is the acceptance of all kinds of music. The genreification of music to please radio advertisers has narrowed the range of music that brings us pleasure. The problem of course is that the rock scene arose out of the various types of music that musicians were exposed to and grew up with.

There is nothing too read into this song. It is a simple folk song and nothing more. Puff was just a Dragon and not a reference anything. Stop analyzing everything and just enjoy the music.

The counterculture movement back then unfortunately became synonymous with thc and psychedelic drugs. Much of the music was interpreted as drug related - intentional or not. The game was for the song writers to deny any references to drugs intentional or not - going by what they said in some interview is up for grabs (puff, magic, wax Paper - who knows!)

Pretty sure this is about a glue sniffer who finds himself living in a world decades beyond the last real music of quality, and yet having to contend with jacky paper, to clean his steely dan after a long hot day filling the mind's ear with refuse, while having to like it, forgetting that what is new is seldom good, for if it is good it is, but for a short time new. I'd have check with my team of amanuenses but if feels right.

This is Mama Cass ( Cass Elliot from The Mama`s and the Papa`s) guest appearing and singing the song Different on the children`s Saturday morning television show H.R Pufnstuf, now THIS show`s writers and staff had to all have been off their heads and it`s amazing that it was ever broadcast. I loved this show as a kid and didn`t think it was in any way strange and got none of the references but now it seems very "dopey" , I still love it though . Not sure you`ll enjoy the musical style here either, but you have to admit it`s very trippy🙃🤪🤣kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eq6BfqSizKibYaM.html