# Is the Song "Puff the Magic Dragon" about Drugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443 "2013-06-20T07:41:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/61 "2013-07-08T01:56:19Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” was based on his son Julian’s drawing of the same name (Julian named it himself). The drawing wasn’t destroyed and has been available for people to view since forever, but people still refuse to believe it. Here’s the [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/lucysky.asp) link. His son was on LSD?😕 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/62 "2013-07-08T06:57:09Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Don’t be ridiculous. The Walrus was Paul. > > Unless you’re saying… :eek: She was the Eggwoman? (Eggperson?) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/63 "2013-07-10T20:09:03Z")
I was just in Hawaii on Kauai, and drove to/through Hanalei… if this song isn’t about drugs, I am sure Hanalei is a good place to smoke some Hawaiian (check out [these Google images](https://www.google.com/search?q=images+hanalei+hawaii&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Br_dUe6IA5D94AOJioEI&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1325&bih=871)) ---
**Author:** ![SuperBrokenFingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SuperBrokenFingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperBrokenFingers)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/64 "2013-07-12T15:11:47Z")
It’s about smoking diesel. Wake up. Hence chasing the dragon. ---
**Author:** ![SuperBrokenFingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SuperBrokenFingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperBrokenFingers)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/65 "2013-07-12T15:13:29Z")
:smack:Diesel as in Heroin by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/66 "2013-07-12T16:05:31Z")
I don’t know about any of that, but I do know that Billy Joe McAllister, at the insistence of his girlfriend, threw his stash of smack off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Later, in throes of withdrawal, he dove in to look for it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/67 "2013-07-12T16:08:36Z")
> [@SuperBrokenFingers](#): > > :smack:Diesel as in Heroin by the way. Huh.I love to toke some sour diesel, but never knew it to be slang for H. ETA: appropriate that the smiley you use is called, “smack”. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/68 "2013-07-12T22:31:43Z")
Is this song about LSD? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9AShsOgwCG0/hqdefault.jpg "Northside - Shall we Take a Trip (audio only)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AShsOgwCG0) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/69 "2013-07-12T23:11:08Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > Is this song about LSD? How about [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytfrNsTZPx0)? (Note reference at 0:45.) ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/70 "2013-07-13T00:18:26Z")
I don’t get it. LSD was invented in 1938 but that song was written in 1931. Was LSD an acronym for something back then? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/71 "2013-07-13T00:51:57Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > I don’t get it. LSD was invented in 1938 but that song was written in 1931. Was LSD an acronym for something back then? It meant money, as in pounds, shillings and pence (£.s.d.). The “d” for pence was from the Latin _denarii_. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/72 "2013-07-14T12:48:00Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > It meant money, as in pounds, shillings and pence (£.s.d.). The “d” for pence was from the Latin _denarii_. And the £, a stylised L, from _libra_. And the s from _solidi_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/73 "2013-07-22T13:12:05Z")
Conversation at lunch the other day: Co-worker: I don’t have to puff the magic dragon. My brain _is_ the magic dragon. Me: I am _so_ stealing that line! ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/74 "2013-07-23T00:37:40Z")
So is ‘Poison Ivy’ about a girl with an STD? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/75 "2013-07-23T15:41:09Z")
> [@Shearer](#): > > So is ‘Poison Ivy’ about a girl with an STD? Leiber & Stoller say so in [their autobiography](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416559388/songfactsco09-20) according to Wikipedia and others. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443/76 "2013-07-23T17:08:38Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Leiber & Stoller say so in [their autobiography](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416559388/songfactsco09-20) according to Wikipedia and others. That’s also supposed to be the meaning of their “Bad Blood.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-song-puff-the-magic-dragon-about-drugs/661443.md?page=3)