PEOPLE ! I am not perfect or the best at them, But for Christ sake, take a course in tag writing.
"Home spun, Electronica, Sweet Melody, Phat Beats" for the original is just shit shit shit shit tags.

*end rant.

No, "Puff, the Magic Dragon" is not about marijuana, or any other type of drug. It is what its writers have always claimed it to be: a song about the innocence of childhood lost.


The poem that formed the basis of the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon" was written in 1959 by Leonard Lipton, a nineteen-year-old Cornell student. Lipton was inspired by an Ogden Nash rhyme about a "Really-O Truly-O Dragon," and, using a dragon as the central figure, he came up with a poem about the end of childhood innocence. Lipton passed his work along to a friend, fellow Cornell student (and folk music enthusiast) Peter Yarrow, who put a melody to the words and wrote additional lyrics to create the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon." After Yarrow teamed up with Mary Travers and Paul Stookey in 1961 to form Peter, Paul & Mary, the trio performed the song in live shows; their 1962 recording of "Puff" reached #2 on the Billboard charts in early 1963.


The 1960s being what they were, however, any song based on oblique or allegorical lyrics was subject to reinterpretation as a "drug song," and so it was with "Puff." (For Peter, Paul & Mary, at least, the revelation that their song was "really" about marijuana came after the song had finished its chart run; other groups were not so fortunate, and accusations of "drug lyrics" caused some radio stations to ban songs such as the Byrds' "Eight Miles High" from their playlists.) "Puff" was an obvious name for a song about smoking pot; little Jackie Paper's surname referred to rolling papers; "autumn mist" was either clouds of marijuana smoke or a drug-induced state; the land of "Hanah Lee" was really the Hawaiian village of Hanalei, known for its particularly potent marijuana plants; and so on. As Peter Yarrow has demonstrated in countless concert performances, any song — even "The Star-Spangled Banner" — can be interpreted as a "drug song."


http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/puff.asp

Thanks so much, I adore Placebo

In reply to this comment by marinara:
*promote this stuff is pretty interesting. kinda has a melody like metal, but a punk feel

*promote this stuff is pretty interesting. kinda has a melody like metal, but a punk feel

I have no particular attachment to lyrics. I love instrumental jazz, enjoy classical, and have been on a major kick of foreign rock lately because it's great to be able to appreciate voice as an instrument without having to understand the (frequently) trite lyrics.

Roll Tide establishes a theme and presents variations on it. It's structure is quite classical, as a lot of metal is. The issue I raise with Vai (& Satriani & Michael Angelo Batio) is that they are shredding for the sake of shredding. I don't stand opposed to shredding, but I feel that it's at its best as an interlude to a piece with harmony, melody, arc, etc.

A drum machine and two guitars is just not my idea of a good time (except for maybe Ratatat). I certainly appreciate the absolutely insane technical skill of these guys, I just often believe that they're squandering it.>> ^juliovega914:

I feel Nightwish's Crimson Tide stands to show that a song can be good listening without lyrics.
http://videosift.com/video/Nightwish-Crimson-Tide-Instrumental-Roll-Ti
de

Someone should rewrite this song with less retarded lyrics. The beat and melody are kind of catchy.

>> ^entr0py:
But the hardcore supporters do get on my nerves sometimes. They have a tendency to go overboard, and in doing so damage their credibility. For example, when they claim that that smoking doesn't impair your driving. That, in a sense it improves your driving, because the slowed reaction time gives you more time to consider things.


I guess I'm a hardcore supporter.

I'm for laws that curb driving while high, and as a non-smoker I understand your skepticism, but....

If you've ever watched a circle of college kids playing hacky-sac, upon close observation you'll notice that the best players are usually baked at the time.

Weed doesn't impair the reflexes like booze does.

And another thing, when you're high, you're just not in that great of a rush to get from point A to point B. You get into the music, and you laugh at the way the melody kind of accentuates the trip, and then you notice a pretty sunset, or some kids playing with their pretty mothers in a park...and the very last thing in the world that you want to do is to ruin that experience by running over a squirrel, or a dog, or a kid, or by smashing into somebody else's car.

Seems like it would have worked pretty well without any music, just whatever insane silent melody the hatter keeps in his head. I bet that's how it was written originally.

edit: On second thought, yeah, of course that's how it's written. The characters clearly aren't supposed to be hearing the sound track. I imagine they just assumed the typical Disney audience lacks the necessary imagination and would be confused. I have more faith in them myself, but obviously Burton sold the &#@%$ out. It's a shame, really.

I normally like Pomplamoose, but this sounds bad to me. The chords are all weird, it grates my ears. They changed the background chords without changing the melody notes, so there are moments where it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I sometimes wonder if I will ever get tired of the Sigur Ros -formula- (music boxes, dramatic crescendos, heartbreaking melodies, etc; etc;)... not today.

How old is this melody?

300 years?

I love how close the melody was to the overly-cheesy "Already There" by Lonestar.

damm this is awesome. tho i wish they would advance that tune a bit more. they kinda stayed with the same melody the whole time.

remind me of of patti smith with the melody changes. They rock.

Thanks to this song and Guitar Hero fame, a generation have now ingrained into their mindsets that good metal is equivalent to repetitively playing simple melodies really fast.