{"id":2558,"date":"2023-03-16T07:22:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T18:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.radijohan.com\/?p=2558"},"modified":"2023-03-16T07:24:43","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T18:24:43","slug":"where-there-is-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.radijohan.com\/?p=2558","title":{"rendered":"Where There Is Smoke…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1963 “Peter, Paul and Mary” released the single, Puff The Magic Dragon<\/em>. The song was written by Peter (Yarrow) based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton. The lyrics tell the story of an ageless dragon named Puff and his friend, a young boy named Jackie Paper. Sadly, as Jackie grows up, he loses interest in Puff, leaving him to be alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the years, controversy has surrounded this song. It was banned by a number of radio stations whose management thought that the song was about smoking marijuana. The American folk trio denied this . Yarrow has frequently explained that the song is about the hardships of growing older and has no relationship to drug-taking. He has also said that the song has “never had any meaning other than the obvious one” and is about the “loss of innocence in children.” Mary Travers, who along with Yarrow and Paul Stookey made the song famous, said, \u201cBelieve me, if he (Yarrow) wanted to write a song about marijuana, he would have written a song about marijuana.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter, Paul and Mary recorded a dozen hits that charted between 1962 and 1969. Other hits included their versions of Bob Dylan’s Blowin\u2019 in the Wind<\/em> and, their biggest hit, John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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