Dick Feller - 'Biff the Friendly Purple Bear'

This is the only place on YouTube you can get this very hard to get 'tear jerker'. It was released 1973.
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Now I was a play horse you pulled with a string
On wheels where my legs should be
And he was the boy who pulled the toy
Around the tree house tree
For the longest time there was just us two
The boy and the horse that was me
Until the day the purple bear came to live in the tree house tree

Well it was early one spring
I was tied by my string
In a field of the make believe farm
When around the house the boy and the bear
Came marching arm in arm
'This is Biff', said the boy to me
'He's the friendly, purple bear'
And Biff stooped down and stroked my mane
With a paw of purple hair
'Biff has come to stay,' said the boy
'and pretend with me and you
And he can do anything that a boy and a toy
Believe purple bears can do'

And taking the cue, Biff bowed from the waist
Then leaped and clicked his heels
Then down to the ground with three somersaults
That ended in four cartwheels
He whirled and twirled and stood on his head
The boy giggled and slapped his side
And I laughed so hard that wooden tears
Rolled out of my painted eyes

So Biff came to stay in the tree house tree
And long days came without end
For the boy and the toy and the purple bear
And serious games of pretend

Like the cowboy game
Where the boy is Sheriff
And Biff is the bandit king
That always ended
With all the outlaws in the jail
By the long rope swing

And the great pony race
That lasted for days around the flower bed
Aah, that was a tough one
But lucky for us, I won by a wooden head

And the day we entered the pirate's cove
Beneath a bush on the alley side
Biff had a sword and a paper hat
And a patch across a purple eye

Well, there was always the danger
Of outlaws or Indians
Or creatures from outer space
And without the courage of the three of us
We might have lost the whole place

But we were bound by the code of the Musketeers
Such golden hours were shared
By the freckled face boy and the wooden horse toy
And Biff, the purple bear

But as summers passed the boy grew taller
And his voice took a strange new ring
And his visits were few to the tree house tree
And never to the long rope swing

Biff, the purple bear grew sad
As he climbed down the tree house tree
He shook his head
'I'm afraid,' he said
'He's forgotten you and me
It seems old wooden friend of mine
We've outlasted his boyhood years
And he turned and was gone across the lawn
In a trail of purple tears

Now I've been put to pasture in the old tree house
But at times I've seen from afar
A strange, tall boy who mows the lawn
And tinkers about his old car
But just today I looked past the house
And down the sidewalk I swear
Came a new little boy
With a wooden horse toy
Followed by a purple bear

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Dick
• Feller
• Biff
• the
• Friendly
• Purple
• Bear
• Wooden
• Horse
• Toy
• Treehouse
• Tree
• Mac
• Davis

[arkypig12]

I too have looked for many years for the Mac Davis version. But it was good to hear it again no matter who did it. Thank you for the posting.

[radiodeejay2008]

The Mac Davis version is now available right here!

Just look at my other video listings for the link :)

[williamebarlow]

I have been trying to find the Mac Davis version and can't. Not even the radio stations has ever heard it. But I'll keep looking.

[radiodeejay2008]

The Mac Davis version is now available right here!

Just look at my other video listings for the link :)

[radiodeejay2008]

No...I've never heard the flip-side. If you have it could you post it and let us know here where we can find it? :)

[TonyForsyth]

I only heard this once when I was 8 years old, on a local radio station in N.C., but it made such an impression on me that I have been looking for it for most of my life. I didn't know the title, and remembered the "wooden horse toy", and the "treehouse tree". I can not thank you enough for posting this! God bless you.

[radiodeejay2008]

I have a similar story. I remember hearing on the radio too, they had a 'kids hour' on a Sunday morning and sometimes played it then. As an adult I tried to track it down with what very little I knew, but had no luck for many years. But then with the Internet I finally found it! I really wanted to present it here with some cute photos or drawn characters, but could never find what I was looking for, so I thought far better to post it as is, than never at all. Tony, I'm glad Biff found you again!

[tcaldwell101]

Thank you so much for posting this. I played the old 45 RPM till I wore this record out, and had to get another one.

So many years ago

And yes, no one does this better than Dick Feller's version.

Thank you for posting a nice memory

[capricorn0115]

Since I first played this song as a DJ at WXCL AM1350 in Peoria, Illinois I have always loved this song. And no one does it like the original, Dick Feller. It tugs at the heart strings and brings back memories of being a kid. Days long gone! Thanks for posting!

[tonycaudillc2]

This is the original song. Stll makes me sad,if not sadder than when it first played on the radio. Grat song .

[1947carlton]

I'm a 64 year old retired drywall contractor and still have to fight the lump in my throat each time I return to YouTube to play this. No other recording captures (for me) the complete escape from reality I would attain in my imaginary playtime escapades. I'm back, 8 years old, defending my little brother against the pirates & savage indians that lurked in our neighborhood. Thanks for posting........

[danhughes1]

This song is Puff the Magic Dragon the way it SHOULD have been - with a happy ending instead of a sad one.

[johndalefenlaw]

one of dick fellers greatest ever..

[Hounddoggy33]

A beautiful song that is so underrated. I corresponded with Dick through e-mail a few years agao and he sent me an autographed CD. My dad still has the 45RPM single of this (I think it was on United Artists).

[soulcornflake1]

I loved this song as a kid and my parents to this day make me recite the parts I remember at family gatherings. There's always a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a nephew or niece or cousin or friends who've never heard it and it never fails to move them.

[friendlywelshdragon]

Great to hear this again. . I remember Bob Stewart playing it on Radio Luxembourg .

[gatyamgal]

Thank you for posting this. I still have this recorded on a cassette from back in the early 70's. One of my favorite songs. Now that I am grown and have kids of my own, this has a whole new meaning for me. Listening to it today, which is my daughter's 29th Birthday, it brings a tear to my eye. Thanks again!