This afternoon Doodle and I were singing some songs from a book. We got to the page with Puff the Magic Dragon and Doodle asked me to sing it. So I did. Mostly. I got to the verse where Jackie Paper doesn't come back and started to cry (my eyes are welling up now actually). I just can't sing it. I don't know what is sadder, the little boy growing up and not coming to play or the disappointed sad dragon. Gets me every time.
In school I did some illustrations of the song for a class, that's one of them at the top. I remember at the time getting an OK grade but being told by the teacher that it would be better with a happier ending. Would it? Are happy endings really what it's all about? Aren't fairy tales and folk songs safe ways of acting out and testing out experiences and emotions? If children only experience happy endings are they actually any happier? I don't know. But I still can't sing the damn song all the way through.
I made this little movie for Doodle using the old pictures. He likes it, and I don't have to sing. But it still chokes me up!
Puff the Magic Dragon ala Mama.
6 comments:
Your drawings are wonderful! Happy endings huh? LoL!
I always cried when I sang Peter Paul and Mary songs to my kids....the song "For Baby" ( written by John Denver) would have me absolutely bawling. Now I need some tissues. I just blinked and suddenly my little boy is 14 and starting to look at colleges.
Oh my gosh, I'm a puddle. I was welling up before I even scrolled down to your post; just the sight of your lovely drawing did it for me.
Maeve loves the movie. Thank you! I now have another trick up my sleeve to entertain her. By the end of the second time we watched, she started patting my leg and asking "You have a boo- boo mama?" LOL I told her yes - PMS. ; )
People need to cry! Just look at your comment stream!! We lose and gain every day, so we must celebrate and grieve every day.
IMHO, that is.
I'm joining the puddle crowd. Also reminds me of the end of Winnie the Pooh when Pooh is waiting in the Enchanted Wood for Christopher Robin to come play.
Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear a neglected dragon calling!
May we never completely lose the wonder and joy and curiosity of childhood!
Another day of masscara dripping down onto my white pants. I give up. Puff has always gotten to me but now even more so. I think I will round out the day with "Send In the Clowns" and call it a day.
What beautiful illustrations! I was glad to see, in the lovely book I got Desi, that it ended with a little girl -- possibly Jackie Paper's daughter -- finding Puff and being his new friend. Happy ending for the modern audience, without even changing the lyrics. Now I don't have to get all weepy when I sing it. Don't ask me to sing "Leaving on a Jet Plane", though!
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