[005] 'Puff, the Magic Dragon'

There are loadza things those I missed when I was a kid!
Loadza good books. Loadza good movies. Loadza good music.
It was a bit tough to get all those things back in eighties
in Bangladesh(বাংলাদেশ). But well, I had my fair-share. I was damn
happy as a kid. Quite privileged I must mention!
Even after missing all those stuffs.

But, missing all those things, has a good side as well.
Now when I am grown-up(am I?) and come to hear, read or
watch the things which I missed back then, I have such
amazing feelings every time. I get my surprises and amazements
every time I found something like that. I feel like I am still a kid.

Trust me, in this google-days, its getting tough to tougher to get
surprises in your mundane, well-structured, technology-fueled daily life.

One of those missed gems of my childhood is "Puff, The Magic Dragon".
Its a song. From sixties. From long before I was even born.
So how come I missed it? I don't know. Anyway...however!

So, Puff, is a magic dragon. He lives by the see in Honah Lee.
He has a magical breath, like most other dragons, and thus he got his
name. He had a little boy as his friend named Jackie Paper. But when
Jackie grew up, he lost his interest in the imaginary adventures of his
childhood with Puff. Like most of the people in this world.
And unlike me!

Everyone, when they were kids, had a Puff. It could be a dragon.
Could be a train. Could be a flying car or a fairy or a Plane.
Mine was a Robot. I always wanted to buy a robot for me.
I even made my mom promise to sell her jewelry to buy me
the robot. The robot who would be my friend as well as a slave,
and who would listen to me everytime I wanna tell it something.
Well, luckily they were not selling robot in mass market back
then. So my mom was pretty lucky I suppose.

"Puff, the Magic Dragon" was a song by "Peter, Paul and Mary".
It became an instant hit when it came out in 1963. Its actually
adopted from a poem written by a Cornell student Leonard Lipton.

Funny thing is, you must know, the song is believed by many people
a reference to smoking marijuana(!). It even became a hippie anthem.
Though the band denied any intentional drug reference again and again.
Even during their stage performances. But it remains an urban legend.
'Puff'...the 'magic' 'dragon'...ring any bell?
Why shouldn't there be any rumor?

Anyway...those crazy hippies!

Now when I feel sad, or miss my home, or just miss being a kid,
I listen to the amazing 'Puff, The Magic Dragon'.
(Click on it to download a legal sample of the song.
Its in '.ogg' format. So you will need WinAmp.)

Jackie forgot Puff. I still want a robot. Mom?

/J