# Oh, say, can you see? 'C' stands for 'cocaine'... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-say-can-you-see-c-stands-for-cocaine/496714 "2009-05-17T03:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-say-can-you-see-c-stands-for-cocaine/496714/1 "2009-05-17T03:59:07Z")
According to the Wiki article on [_Puff, The Magic Dragon_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puff,_the_Magic_Dragon#Speculation_about_drug_references): > [@](#): > > On one occasion, during a live performance, Yarrow mocked the drug-related interpretations by reciting his own tongue-in-cheek drug-related reinterpretation of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, and ended by saying, “…You can wreck anything with that kind of idiotic analysis.”[sup][citation needed][/sup] I saw this concert on TV. Now, my sister was a teenager when Peter, Paul & Mary were active; so I picked up a bit of PP&M by osmosis. I remember watching what I think is the first PBS presentation of a PP&M concert sometime in the '70s. I remembered them from when I was a wee’un, so I made a point of watching. Paul did a little monologue on the alleged drug references in _Puff_ and, as Wiki says, took on _The Star-Spangles Banner_" ‘Oh, say, can you see? “C” stands for “cocaine”…’ Can anyone verify that the concert in question was on PBS? That it was the first PBS PP&M concert? Is there any video online of that part of the concert? (And while I’m at it, where is the video of PP&M on _The Jack Benny Show_ where they and Benny did a bit about confusing their names?) ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-say-can-you-see-c-stands-for-cocaine/496714/2 "2009-05-17T09:04:10Z")
**Johnny** , I think that probably came at a time when the “media” were examining many songs thought to contain “drug” references, right? Case in point being that happy little Beatles song **YELLOW SUBMARINE** , yes? So while I cannot help you in your search, may I offer a “Quasi-ism”? To be taken with a grain of “anti-dementia salt”, of course. What if, instead of succumbing to their promoters’ stupid “explanations”, all of them just threw up their arms and said… “Well, **Hell-Yeah** , that’s what the damn song is about , you Cretins! How many people do YOU know who have the last name of _Paper_. and hang out with some reptile “conveniently” called **Puff** , fer Chrissakes!?” ([Monty Python Answer] “Could be a juvenile arsonist, ah s’pose”[/Monty Python Answer]) “ **Yes** , dammit! Peter, Paul and Mary get high, and Julian Lennon is a “victim” of his daddy’s lies! So how about we _legalize_ it, and avoid all kinds of murder, mayhem and disasters down the road, huh, Ossifer?” (this took me 45 minutes to write, godammit. The synapses ain’t synapsin’ like they used to) Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-say-can-you-see-c-stands-for-cocaine/496714/3 "2009-05-17T13:39:04Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > (this took me 45 minutes to write, godammit. The synapses ain’t synapsin’ like they used to) Maybe, but I can totally see John Cleese saying ‘Could be a juvenile arsonist.’ 🙂 PP&M (and Lenny Lipton) have always maintained the song is about growing up, and most definitely not about marijuana. ‘Fighting ignorance since 1963. (It’s taking longer than we thought!)’ I do clearly remember Peter’s bit where he said ‘“C” stands for “cocaine”.’ What I don’t remember is if he continued with _The Star-Spangled Banner_ by saying, ‘“By the dawn’s early light” is when most marijuana smokers light their first joint…’ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-say-can-you-see-c-stands-for-cocaine/496714/4 "2009-05-17T18:39:31Z")
C is for cocaine, that’s good enough for me C is for cocaine, thats good enough for me C is for cocaine, that’s good enough for me Oh, cocaine,cocaine, cocaine starts with C Everybody… ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-say-can-you-see-c-stands-for-cocaine/496714/5 "2009-05-17T18:56:29Z")
I have spoken with Peter Yarrow personally about _Puff the Magic Dragon_, and he assured me it is in no way about drugs, and never was- it is about hope. Anecdote, not data, but from the man himself. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-say-can-you-see-c-stands-for-cocaine/496714/6 "2009-05-17T19:14:49Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > I have spoken with Peter Yarrow personally about _Puff the Magic Dragon_, and he assured me it is in no way about drugs, and never was- it is about hope. > > Anecdote, not data, but from the man himself. I’ve never doubted that the song is not about drugs. Just trying to find out when (what concert, when it was aired on PBS) Peter did the SSB thing.