Here we go again: another year, another Jam! Welcome back to the Wizrocklopedia’s monthly creative challenge.

In December, our theme was retellings. I don’t need to tell you twice that December is a busy month for a lot of us. Even still, several members of the wrock community managed to create and share some art, which I am always glad to see.

New community member Aiden shared his more hopeful retelling of Puff the Magic Dragon. They also had some commentary:

This is my cover and arrangement of “Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul, and Mary. It’s one of those songs that has integrated itself into culture and folks of all generations are often familiar with the tune even if they weren’t alive when it originally came out. I think it’s a great example of how “pop” music over time transforms into folk music.

I have no idea how young I was the first time I heard “Puff the Magic Dragon,” but I do remember being in elementary school at one point, hearing the song and feeling very sad because the song literally says that Puff stays afraid, severely depressed, and isolated forever. People would talk about it being a happy song, and that would make kid Aiden angry because it CLEARLY was not so. Why was everyone acting like it was a joyful ballad and I also was annoyed as it’s presentation of such musically with the upbeat melody and major key.

I grew up in an abusive home. Music for me as a child was a place I could genuinely find relief and escape and a place where I could express my feelings safely. I’ve played piano since a bit before I turned four, and violin since I was nine. However, I refused to sing growing up. I also refused to learn to play guitar. My bio parents were both very musically talented and performed a lot with the church worship band. They wanted their kids to do it with them. Refusing to sing or play the guitar were one of the few ways I could rebel safely. And one of the few boundaries in my life that was actually allowed to exist. Though they were annoyed I wouldn’t sing, I wasn’t forced to.

When I grew up and got out of that environment, I started to explore singing on my own terms. Mostly just casually. In college I was on cast on the Renaissance faire. I had fun singing along with all the faire songs and such. Just singing for fun, just singing for me. Over the years I started singing more intentionally. I had a larp character in a zombie apocalypse larp who would sing all the time while fixing things for others. Her name was Tally. And Tally grew up in a safe family where music was what it should be, a place to have fun and connect with others and it not mattering what the “product” is if you’re not getting payed. By larping her, I got to play with singing being safe, and that helped me ultimately begin to feel safe in my own voice and intentionally start working on developing my singing. In the larp, someone taught Tally “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Tally too was sad he was left alone forever, so there in the middle of a Midwest forest in late March, my last two additional verses of Puff were born.

When I started learning guitar a couple years later, Puff, now with my long established two added verses, was one of the first songs I arranged and learned to play and sing.

This arrangement of Puff and my additional verses represent so many aspects of “retelling” to me as you can see from above. We change, we can grow, we can heal. Our lifelong journeys of change do not invalidate the pain of our past, but we are also not defined by it either. I also wanted to emphasize the cyclical aspect of relationships and seasons of life and how maybe Jackie didn’t want the adventures with Puff to end either, but sometimes we’re forced to sever connections prematurely or without being able to say a proper goodbye, even if we love the person very much. Not only is Jackie’s child continuing the legacy, Jackie is being established as still being a loving friend to Puff by sharing their stories and encouraging his daughter to visit Puff when she is old enough.

And other folks have told me how much they love my verses and have asked to use them because they too hated how Puff was left sad forever. I also welcome folks to use them as long as they credit me.

The additional lyrics are as follows:

“Many years did pass and Puff grew sadder all alone
But his fears did keep him trapped inside his rocky home
Then one day Puff remembered Jackie called him big and brave
So he squared his scaly shoulders and he leapt out of his cave!”

“One day while Puff did frolic down his favorite cherry lane
He ran into a little girl, and Jackie was her name
She said ‘my daddy’s told me about his and your great games.
So I’ve come to play with you and we can sail and do the same’ “

The Bookish Hufflepuff followed on by creating a collage inspired by Aiden’s reworked song, which she gave him as a Christmas present:

Hallie, another new community member, shared her own version of Puff the Magic Dragon, this time with a Tolkien twist:

Smaug the dreadful dragon lurked by the door
And slept in stolen treasure piles in the mountain Erebor
All the line of Durin loathed that fire-drake
And they brought him kings and other things, and made a few mistakes

Together they determined that their home they must reclaim
Smaug quite firmly disagreed, his appetite untamed
Bilbo Baggins faced him, both afraid and bold
Outwitted by his silver tongue, the dragon hid in gold

Smaug flew from the mountain he claimed as his alone
Dwarves and Men fled from his flame as he burned wood and stone
On the lake it happened, Bard the Bowman heard
He found his old black arrow after listening to a bird

With his bow he sent it flying through the air
Then it met a weak spot with a scale no longer there
From the skies above them, where he did ascend
Smaug fell down and very quickly met his soggy end

For January, let’s get a running start to the year with this prompt: action. You can use any medium you like and follow the prompt in any direction you choose. Nothing has to be perfect, nor even finished. Just have fun, and please do share. Ready, set, go!