Thursday, June 14, 2012

Puff the Magic Dragon

Paul Siebert with Nebraska Humanities entertained yesterday for the "Birthday Dinner" at the Seward Senior Center. He is very versatile; played a Hammer Dulcimer, Guitar, Jew's-Harp, Accordion, sang and told stories. One of his songs was "Puff the Magic Dragon" and talked about Peter, Paul and Mary recording it back in the '60's. Music has the attribute of stimulating our memory. Often we can identify when, where or why we associate certain music with events. However, there are times when we hear music that puts us in a mood that we don't understand. His singing about the Magic Dragon put me in a very depressed mood and I don't know why. I associate the tune with our living back in Arlington, VA, our 4 kids were growing up and financial resources were very limited, we  couldn't get things for the kids that they wanted. Our buying a record at the Korvette or GEM Store was a real treat. It was a time of "bitter-sweet" memories. Was that the reason for my being depressed by hearing the song of that era?  Out of curiosity, I Googled it this afternoon and found comments from several people expressing feelings similar to mine. Is it the words of the song or a reminder of difficult times?? I wonder. 

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