Children's Books: Peter Yarrow

PUFF'S MAGIC ISN'T SMOKE

Peter (Of Peter, Paul And Mary) Hopes His New Book Will Dispel The
Myth That The Famous Song Is About Drugs, Brad Wheeler Writes

Once, when disputing the urban myth that Puff, the Magic Dragon held
hidden meaning, Peter Yarrow asked, in rightful indignation, "What
kind of mean-spirited SOB would write a children's song with a covert
drug message?" Yarrow, who co-wrote the song with Leonard Lipton as a
Cornell University student in 1959, was frustrated then, and still is.

With the publication of a children's picture book adaptation of the
song, Yarrow must once again dispute the allegations that Puff is a
coded allusion to dope-toking.

"It's absurd," Yarrow says from New York. "I mean, you had a song
that clearly says 'a dragon that lives forever but not so little
boys, painted wings and giant wings make way for other toys.' "

Yarrow, who reads and performs today at Casa Loma in Toronto, has
dealt with the wrong associations to Puff for decades, his rebuttals
not always believed. As well, during the Vietnam War, Puff, the Magic
Dragon was used as nickname for fire-spitting gun ships.

"What can you do?" he asks. "You can't control that stuff, but you
can refuse to contribute to the imbecility of it all."

Yarrow comments on Meet the Parents, the 2000 comedy with more than a
few memorable scenes. One of them has a hapless Ben Stiller riding in
a car with his fiancee's domineering father, played by Robert De
Niro. When the classic Peter, Paul and Mary song comes on the radio,
Stiller explains that "Puff" refers to smoking marijuana, to which De
Niro responds that "Puff is just the name of the boy's dragon."

The question of whether or not the song has a druggy subtext is old
news - Newsweek magazine first raised the point back in 1965 with an
article dismissed by Yarrow as "yellow journalism nonsense" - but the
movie caused new problems. Yarrow had a contract with Canadian
animators Nelvana that prevented him from using - or granting
permission for anybody else to use - the song in a way that sullied
Puff's reputation. According to Yarrow, the filmmakers didn't have
consent to use the song in the manner they did.

"Who wants to give permission for something that makes people snicker
at the song," Yarrow says, "rather than be engaged in a sincere way."

Yarrow engages with a book that would seem a long time coming. The
song, long cherished by children and parents for its autumn-misty
images and tale of innocence lost, fits naturally for illustration.

Yarrow had been approached to do such a book in the past, but
resisted until he began performing Puff with his daughter Bethany and
Canadian cellist Rufus Cappadocia (the duo Bethany & Rufus).

"Originally, I went on tour with them as a sound engineer, but
eventually I was invited on stage," says the 69-year-old folk artist.
"The people loved it, and I loved it. Who wouldn't want to sing with
their daughter?"

The cautious take on the song differed from the original sing-along
version; Yarrow, intrigued by the new interpretation, sensed an
analogy. In the book, after Little Jackie Paper outgrew the magical
dragon, Puff is befriended by a young girl. Just as Puff the dragon
never grows old, Puff the song doesn't age either.

"I am, now, passing on the world of Puff to her," as Yarrow explains it.

The recording with Yarrow and Bethany & Rufus is included on a
four-song CD that comes with the children's book.

The song has been done before: Marlene Dietrich's Paff, Der
Zauberdrachen is Yarrow's favourite cover. More recently, Toronto's
Broken Social Scene contributed a Puff cut on See You on the Moon!, a
2005 compilation from Canadian indie rock label Paper Bag Records.

In the liner essay with that album, it's noted that "most of the time
kids are far more intelligent than the adults surrounding them."

Yarrow doesn't see intelligence, exactly, as the issue. "Children are
unencumbered cognitively, in terms of being able to think without
preconceived notions."

As well, there's a youthful sensibility at work, according to Yarrow.
"They aren't escaping from emotions or hiding from vulnerabilities."

Of course, it's that adult search for escape that often leads to drug
use. "That's what's so sweet about children," says Yarrow. "It's that
they're real."

Peter Yarrow performs and reads tomorrow, 1 p.m., at Casa Loma (416-923-1171).

DRUG CHECK

Puff, the Magic Dragon isn't the only popular song misinterpreted as
being stoner-centric.

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (1967): The initials spell LSD, but
John Lennon always maintained the song arose from a picture painted
by his son Julian.

Eight Miles High (1966): The Bryds's soaring classic was banned by
many radio stations. Written primarily by Gene Clark, it refers to
the band's plane trip to London.

Mr. Tambourine Man (1965): The second verse includes the line "Take
me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship," but the tambourine man
Bob Dylan wrote about was a session musician. B.W.