Puff the Kosher Dragon - clip

Posted: Mon, May 26 2008, 9:41 pm Post subject: Puff the Kosher Dragon - clip

hysterical!!!!!!!!!!

I know a bunch of the original RUACH members - the record where this song apperaed forst (I think) and just emailed it around...what a laugh!

1) How does he make his voice do that?

2) Why do they say he lived in Palestine Shocked

Interesting, though...

mimivan:
1) using computer programs to change the speed of his voice without changng the pitch - really easy once you know how
2)no clue...but the original (non-jewish version) says ""by the sea..."

Platinum Member Joined: Jun 09 2005 Posts: 11840

Palestine rhymes with "Shapiro's wine".

I have seen it updated to "Puff the Kosher Dragon lives in Eretz Yisroel/and davens in the synagogue and shuckles with his tail", which is not as good as the original, IMHO.
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Dip the apple in the honey...

makes sense; in the original, the next line rhymes with "sea" (just can't remember the words at this hour...)

Ascent of Tzfat made a version of Puff...
I don't remember the lyrics, except for Puff drank "all of Big Mo's wine"
(little entertainment value for those of you who know Big Mo)

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 07 2007 Posts: 10429

Funny to think that, in reality, the original song was about smoking pot...disguised behind an apparently innocent kiddie tune...anyway, that's why my Mom told me we were not allowed to listen to it..and not the tv special either...

(I would have been none the wiser if she hadn't TOLD me!

Laughing

)

I can't believe I wasted 3 minutes to watch halfway through this silly clip.

This guy must be really bored and in need of extra curricular activities.... Rolling Eyes

I'll take Peter, Paul and Mary's version anyday.
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�All that is thought should not be said. All that is said should not be written. All that is written should not be published. All that is published should not be read.�
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 07 2007 Posts: 10429

I heard that thing about Puff being about smoking pot...maybe yes, maybe no. If yes, it's really well-hidden in hints so abstruse you'd need an annotated Mother Goose to get them. IMO, that makes it like any other nursery rhyme, completely divorced from its original meaning.

From Wikipedia:
The lyrics for "Puff, the Magic Dragon" were based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, a nineteen-year-old Cornell student. Lipton was inspired by an Ogden Nash poem titled "Custard the Dragon," about a "Really-O, Truly-O, little pet dragon." Lipton passed his poem on to friend and fellow Cornell student Peter Yarrow, who created music and more lyrics to make the poem into the song. In 1961, Yarrow joined Paul Stookey and Mary Travers to form Peter, Paul and Mary. The group incorporated the song into their live performances before recording it in 1962; their 1962 recording of "Puff" reached #2 on the Billboard charts in early 1963.

The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon Puff and his playmate Jackie Paper, a little boy who grows up and loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood and leaves Puff alone and depressed. The story of the song takes place "by the sea" in the land of Hanalei, which is on the island of Kaua'I, Hawai'I.

The song is believed by many to refer to smoking joints, due to references to paper, dragon ("draggin'"), puff (smoke), traveling "along the cherry lane" (the burning ember of a cigarette or joint is called a cherry, and moves up the cigarette's length as it burns), and Hanalei (Honalee) is a town in Hawaii where a lot of weed is smoked. Because of this, the song became a hippie anthem. The authors of the song have repeatedly and vehemently denied any intentional drug reference.[3] Peter Yarrow himself insists that "Puff" is about the hardships of growing older, not drugs.[4]

Omigosh! I remember Ogden Nash's poem from when I was a little girl!!!

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 07 2007 Posts: 10429