Puff and Circumstance

Peter, Paul, and Mary

“With this coronavirus pandemic, we've "lost our innocence". We no longer think that raging, out of control diseases are impossible HERE. We've put away our "childish" things -- sporting events, concerts, plays, etc. This song is -- perhaps (smile) -- ABOUT loss of innocence, growing up, and being more serious about life. "Peter Paul & Mary released "Puff the Magic Dragon" exactly 57 years ago today -- on March 16, 1963. Come on, let's all sing it together. While maintaining social distance.”  Loyd Dillon

Each morning I look forward to Loyd Dillon’s “On this day in History” post.  His posts are consistently positive, truthful, and thoughtful. They are often humorous. They are frequently inspiring. Sometimes they are all of the above.  And then there are the ones that make you reflect on something important. Many times, his posts trigger that spot in my brain that makes me think of a funny event or touching moment.  The post that I copied and pasted at the top of this page is a great example of how just a few sentences can really make a difference in someone’s day.

When I read the first sentence about losing our innocence, I was touched by the poetic truth of it. Loss of innocence is a theme that cuts across every form of art and literature. It happens to us individually and collectively. It happens to us over and over no matter how long we have lived. In the next part he alludes to something that we cannot deny; that we have been in denial. We have been like children without a care in the world.  We have been pretending and playing with our own version of “string, sealing wax, and other fancy stuff.”  In the song, Jackie has to put those childish things away and he must distance himself from Puff, his dear and special, magical friend. And now we must practice “Social Distance.” That is our circumstance.  

But I see hope in this post as well. And it sparked a memory of a small moment that occurred when at age 50 I began taking guitar lessons from a well-known musician and performer. Jamie Hoover is a genuine rock and roll legend. I won’t list his entire resume here, but he has played music to audiences that fill an arena. He has played guitar on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I’m not kidding. It’s on YouTube!

Jamie had been the producer of my brother Randy Franklin’s music for years. He suggested that I call Jamie for lessons. I knew a few chords, but had trouble playing smoothly through them. I especially had trouble shifting into the ever-difficult B-minor bar chord.  I told Jamie shifting from G to B-minor was one of my goals.

Jamie showed up at my first lesson with the chords to “Puff the Magic Dragon” all written out in measures. He explained that it required shifting from G to B-minor.  He did not bring the lyrics that first day. He did not know yet that I also wanted to sing while I played.  So, we started working on it. Jamie kept singing the first verse and the chorus over and over, because we could not remember the other lyrics. I worked on playing the song without singing all that week. I was beginning to get the hang of just in time for my second lesson.

This time Jamie proudly waved a song sheet he had created with the chords in measures down one page, and the corresponding lyrics down the adjacent page. He explained, this way we can play it together and sing the whole song as we go along. It even included an intro and an outro.

Yes! I was on my way. I was going to learn to play a song from start to finish! Jamie assured me that I was on my way to becoming a “Rock God!” He is a smart businessman. 

So, here we go. We play the intro. I stumble awkwardly around the chord changes at first, but Jamie reminds me to relax. “It’s just the two of us here” he said. Okay. I got this. We start playing again. We get past the intro. We get past the verse and chorus that we had just sung over and over again the last time. We go on the whole adventure with Jackie and his mighty friend. We are really cooking now. I am managing through and Jamie is playing and singing in such a way that it seems like he is actually in the song. He is Jackie Paper. He is feeling the song and so am I.

Then it happens.

We get to the loss of innocence part. That sad, sad verse.

The one where Jackie Paper came no more. And then I hear the crack in Jamie Hoover’s voice. I look up from my guitar at him and I can see that he has been moved by the lyrics that both of us had forgotten. 

His voice was definitely breaking up a bit. And in that moment, I was so caught up in the emotion of playing music with another human being, that I actually felt a tear form in the corner of my eye. It was kind of silly. We were two grown men after all. But music, no matter how simple, has that power to move our emotions. Loyd’s words, in a short post can transport us to new insights or, in this case, back in time to an odd, yet touching moment that I shared with a real live rock star sitting on the sofa in my living room.

The “Puff Story” has grown to mythological proportions. I went to see Jamie play at a club in front of 60 or more people. He saw me from the stage and says into the microphone, “No Scott, we are not going to play Puff the Magic Dragon.” He then proceeds to tell the story of two grown men getting choked up over a children’s song. His version is hilarious and in it we are sobbing out of control!  The crowd was smiling and laughing. I wasn’t embarrassed, because as I looked around the room, I could see that the people were nodding their heads as they laughed and smiled. They got it.

I look forward to being able to get back out to hear live music without having to worry about catching a pandemic virus.  I look forward to a time when we can let ourselves fall back into innocence once again. But we must always be mindful that we are the grown-ups here and we cannot be lulled so deeply into our childish ways that we fail to get on with the adult responsibilities of looking out for each other. When this is over, we should let loose and sing silly songs loudly until the sun goes down. But when we wake up in the morning, we will need to get on with doing the good work that makes the world a bit better. Good work like Loyd does with his “Day in History” posts. Good work like teaching someone else how to play music and play it with feeling.

“Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honahlee
Little Jackie paper loved that rascal puff
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff 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

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 whene'er they came
Pirate ships would lower their flag when puff roared out his name 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

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”