Dragon Song

It's pretty cool how having children can bring you full circle on things. I was putting my oldest to bed the other night and he asked me for a 'made up story'. So I made up a story about me and him and a dragon that took us for a ride over the trees. After the story he asked me to sing him a song. Sometimes I sing the song, "Now the day is over, Night is drawing nigh" (not sure of the title), but on this particular night I asked him what song he wanted me to sing.

He said, "A dragon song."

Well, I know only one dragon song. (I know it because of all of my mama's 45s that I used to play when I was little.) Really it's the only dragon song I'm aware of and, in my opinion, the only one worth knowing.

I could only remember the first verse and the chorus, which I kept on repeating. But you should have seen him smile.

After I told him goodnight, I got online and decided to check youtube to see if I could find Peter, Paul, and Mary singing the song. I found them, of course. And something I'd almost forgotten.

There was a cartoon made of the song back in the seventies. I remember really digging that cartoon. Watching it again, I remembered how I identified with Jackie Draper (who was turned into Jackie Paper in the cartoon), how he wanted to talk but couldn't. And how he was afraid of a lot of things. Then I got to reading the comments about the cartoon and some insightful person had posted a diagnosis for Jackie.


Autism.

That gave me something to think about. Anyway, me and the boys watched all three parts of it on youtube during supper tonight. There's a lot of good learning cartoons on television nowadays; Dora, Franklin, Arthur. But (again my opinion), they pale in comparison to this one, twenty-five minute, cartoon.

Here it is at google video, which is better quality than the youtube posting. It really is a great little show. And a great song.

By the way, I know there's a lot of speculation that the song is full of symbolic drug references. The writers claim it is not, but is instead about growing up and leaving childhood and innocence behind. I choose to believe them. I also choose to believe that you don't have to completely grow up. Actually, I know it for a fact, since there were three little boys at the supper table tonight; two were watching a cartoon for the first time...

...while the other was relearning the Dragon Song.