‘The Fool On The Hill’ was Paul McCartney’s major contribution to the Magical Mystery Tour EP and album. In the companion TV film it appeared over a sequence shot on a hilltop near Nice in France.
Now that’s Paul. Another good lyric. Shows he’s capable of writing complete songs.
The song was composed on the piano at McCartney’s father’s house in Heswall near Liverpool, “hitting a D 6th chord”.
‘The Fool On The Hill’ was mine and I think I was writing about someone like Maharishi. His detractors called him a fool. Because of his giggle he wasn’t taken too seriously. It was this idea of a fool on the hill, a guru in a cave, I was attracted to.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The Beatles’ 1968 authorised biography contains a lengthy passage in which writer Hunter Davies observed Lennon and McCartney as they composed ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, at McCartney’s house in London. A fascinating insight into their songwriting processes, it showed how they were content to be distracted while waiting for inspiration to arrive.
Paul then went back to his guitar and started to sing and play a very slow, beautiful song about a foolish man sitting on the hill. John listened to it quietly, staring blankly out of the window, almost as if he wasn’t listening. Paul sang it many times, la la-ing words he hadn’t thought of yet. When at last he finished, John said he’d better write the words down or he’d forget them. Paul said it was OK. He wouldn’t forget them. It was the first time Paul had played it for John. There was no discussion.
McCartney decided to go to France to film the Magical Mystery Tour sequence, taking with him Mal Evans and cameraman Aubrey Dewar. Despite having no money or passport with him, he managed to talk his way through customs. The sequence was filmed in the mountains near Nice, shortly after sunrise.
I just ad-libbed the whole thing. I went, ‘Right, get over there: let me dance. Let me jump from this rock to this rock. Get a lot of the sun rising. Get a perfect shot and let me stand in front of it.’ I just had a little Philips cassette to mime to and roughly get the feeling of the song. There was no clapper because there was no sound… It was very spontaneous, as was the whole of Magical Mystery Tour. Later, when we came to try to edit it all, it was very difficult because I hadn’t sung it to synch.We shouldn’t have really had just one cameraman, it was anti-union. That was another reason to go to France. The unions wouldn’t have allowed it in Britain, nor probably in France, but they didn’t know we were doing it.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
On 8 February 2011 the Love album went on sale on Apple Inc’s iTunes Store. Two bonus tracks were also made available: ‘The Fool On The Hill’ and ‘Girl’.
The Love remix of ‘The Fool On The Hill’ featured cellos from ‘I Am The Walrus’, drums from ‘Octopus’s Garden’, horns and vocals from ‘Mother Nature’s Son’, and a tambura drone.
In the studio
On 6 September 1967, Paul McCartney recorded a solo demo of ‘The Fool On The Hill’ in a single take. He played the piano and sang, with no other Beatles appearing on the tape. This demo later appeared on 1996’s Anthology 2.
Recording with the full group began on 25 September. The Beatles recorded three takes of the rhythm track, then added a range of overdubs onto take three. By the close of the session ‘The Fool On The Hill’ featured two pianos, drums, acoustic guitar, recorders and lead vocals.
A reduction mix, numbered take four, was made to facilitate further overdubs, and a mono mmix was made towards the end of the session. The work in progress can also be heard on Anthology 2.
The next day, 26 September, The Beatles began recording the song afresh. The remake, take five, had Paul McCartney’s piano on one track, Ringo Starr’s drums and cymbals on another, and acoustic guitar and maracas on a third. Track four featured overdubs of celeste, more piano and a recorder.
A reduction mix – take six – was then made, onto which McCartney added double-tracked lead vocals and a recorder solo. John Lennon and George Harrison filled track four with bass harmonicas. A tape loop featuring a flourish of slowed-down guitars was also added to the fourth track; this can be heard immediately after the final line: “And the eyes in his head see the world spinning round”.
The finishing touches to ‘The Fool On The Hill’ were recorded on 20 October 1967. Three flautists – Jack Ellory and brothers Christopher and Richard Taylor – added their contribution, scored by George Martin to the suggestions of McCartney.
The flute parts were recorded on a separate tape, as take seven, as all tracks on the main tape were full. On 25 October takes six and seven were mixed in sync to create a final mono master.
….there are so many cover versions of this one song; (Sergio Mende’s a favorite). We can see how this wonderfully beautiful song is truely a minor masterpiece in The Beatles catalogue of recorded music! It almost feels a bit semi- documentary of Pauls’ life during the late and early post-Beatles era. To see the song done in ‘Magical Mystery Tour was breathtaking in it’s simplicity, a truely well written, and performed song in the of semi-sad, Beatles hits that have a touch of pathos, and a slight hint of unhappiness about them? The best + brightest songs counter pointing the sweet sadness we all experience in our lifes journey. We are made a bit more aware that ‘everything’ is never what it seems at first, any one of us have played this part before!
The Love version includes bass from Because, and the drums may also partially come from Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.
Hey, the flutes were added the day before I was born!
Fool on the Hill is really one of the most beautiful songs they ever recorded.
This is such a beautiful song, one of my favorites.
There aren’t that many underrated Macca songs but this is one of them!
i always got the impression this song was like mccartney was singing in the third person about himself with the video of himself running around and literally being the “fool on the hill” but whatever. I definetly think a lot of his stuff is more deep than he sometimes lets on or gets credit for anyway
“A lot of his stuff is more deep than he sometimes lets on or gets credit for anyway” -sadly, you’re right. He is a great artist. The man who also wrote “Eleanor Rigby”, or “Penny Lane”; among others.
A beautiful and classic song.
This song, for now, appears on LOVE iTunes LP.
It could be nice to update this page with that information!
Good idea. I have done, for this page and Girl. Any help with identifying the new elements of the remixes would be appreciated!
Maybe, someone can help me. First, this is a lovely song. During Paul’s live concerts when he played this song, during a part of it he would play in the background Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Being an African American this disturbed me a little, given the name of the song and his story how and what he we thinking of when he came up with the song. Now I would bet my life that Paul meant nothing derogatory. Can someone tell me his or her point of view?
Well, the song is about a man who is considered to be a “Fool on the hill” by other people – but “he knows that THEY’RE the fools”…
So I guess Macca thought of MLK as someone with a vision that was considered to be foolish by certain people, and they didn’t “like him” at all.
But in truth he was smarter and at least his vision was stronger than them…
Thank you my friend, that makes all the sense in the world!
You’re right. McCartney certainly wasn’t a racist, (see Get Back page.) and he always was open minded. I can see how it could be uncomfortable, but he was being complementary, not derogatory.
I heard that Paul wrote this song after the meditation Guru from India. That person had a laugh & was no fool.
On the version of this song that is part of the i tunes love package, does anyone know where the music they play at the beginning of the song as an intro comes from? I am totally stumped.
sea of time off the yellow sub i think
It may be that the music at the beginning of this song on the Love CD is from the incidental music from the film itself, perhaps “Jessie’s Song”, credited to all four Beatles. I will watch the DVD again and listen for it and report back.
I like how the bass harmonicas sound so warm
Think those bass harmonicas might be a Brian Wilson/Beach Boys influence.
I am pretty sure that in this song there’s real flutes but there’s a mellotron flutes too. If you hear closely you will hear a mellotron.
Agree. McCartney is playing a recorder, but the other harmonizing flute sounds are probably a Mellotron. If McCartney is really doing that 4-5 distinct tones in multi-tracking then I am mightily impressed.
I think this is Mike Pinder from The Moody Blues
I think that this song is about Nicolaus Copernicus.
I have a theory. I think this song is about John. “Man of a thousand voices” you know the way he always talked in different funny tones. Also John says on his song “Instant Karma” which is about Paul, “How in the world you gonna see
Laughin’ at fools like me”.
I knew the Sergio Mendes cover before I knew the Beatles original. It was an AM radio hit in the US. I love them both.
I know the conventional wisdom is that Sgt Pepper’s was the climax and Magical Mystery Tour was the hangover, or the denouement, where the excesses of the Beatles’ druggy days finally came to be too much. I’ve never been able to buy into that though. I love the MMT songs, this one too.
It has a somber quality like Eleanor Rigby, although isn’t ER’s equal. Nevertheless it is a wonderful contemplative song.
I take Paul at his word that he was thinking of someone like the Maharishi as his model for the Fool. But the Fool is also you and me and the childlike Paul from the movie footage.
Great song, among my top 10 Paul songs (with Hey Jude, Big Medley, Eleanor Rigby, Blackbird, Mother Nature’s Son…), from a still under-rated, under-appreciated Beatles effort. Yes the film is boring, but musically from Magical Mystery Tour through I am the Walrus, the songs are fabulous.
Me, too, James. I didn’t know it was a Beatles tune or that Paul had written it for months until I finally heard MMT (I was 11 and usually had to wait for my older sister to buy the record!)
I didn’t particularly like the Mendes version and I think that colored my view of the song.
It’s never been a favorite of mine….oh, well.
BIngo Steve!!! My sentiments exactly…another thing I recently heard while listening to this song, Paul is the story teller but sounds like he is deliberately trying to sound like Lennon, a bit nasal like when he opens with “day after day, alone on a hill” with the fool, John, actually singing about himself.
Steve, This Song is about the Maharrshi. The Maharrshi is always giggling and laughing. Some people thinks is a fool but he is not. The Maharrshi is teaching people how to meditate.
Some sources indicate that George & John play acoustic guitars, but here Joe states that George & Paul do. I would like to know exactly
John was shown with a nylon-string acoustic guitar at the September 25th session and it’s also likely that the 12-string acoustic guitar part was played by George using John’s Framus Hootenanny.
Paul did not own a left-handed 12-string acoustic guitar at the time, but he did obtain his first Martin D-28 acoustic guitar, which he restrung left-handed, around this time.
One of Paul McCartney’s finest songs. It is simply beautiful. Like John Lennon’s ” I Am The Walrus”, ” The Fool On the Hill” is McCartney show casing his half of the twin genius of these two great songwriters. They are easily the two highlights of the whole ” Magical Mystery Tour” enterprise. I love this sequence in the film showing McCartney in the mountains.
This is a beautiful song and one of Paul McCartney’s greatest. A long with John Lennon’s ” I Am the Walrus ”, ” The Fool On The Hill” are the two highlights of the whole ” Magical Mystery Tour” enterprise. I love this in the film, showing McCartney in the mountains. These two songs are just another example of the twin ,( but contrasting), genius of these two men i.e. “Penny Lane”/ ” Strawberry Fields Forever “.
This is a beautiful Paul McCartney composition and a long with John Lennon’s ” I Am The Walrus ” it is one of the two highlights of the ” Magical Mystery Tour” venture. Like ” Penny Lane”/ ” Strawberry Field’s Forever” it is another example of the twin and contrasting genius’ of Lennon-McCartney. The sequence in the film showing McCartney in the mountains is brilliant.
What does that mean Paul’s “major contribution”? Didn’t he have several major contributions?
Where is the original video? Can’t find it anywhere???
Wikipedia lists Ray Thomas & Mike Pinder Of The Moody Blues with playin harmonicas
Has anyone noted which tracks were sped up and/or slowed down for the final version? Additionally, does anyone else hear an acoustic 12-string prominently?
I definitely have always heard 12-string. Really nice, spare and tasteful–it’s a different sounding guitar part to me than on any of their other songs.
If Paul were writing this song at the time they wrote With A Little Help From My Freinds, how can it be inspired by Marahishi?
Reread the quote. It was Paul’s recollection 30 years after the song was written that it was about someone LIKE Maharishi, not that it was inspired by that particular person. Given the time it was written, he could have said someone like MLK, which seems more likely anyway if you consider how he was using King’s image during live performances of the song for something like a decade at the time of the comment.
Sonim
The Beatles first met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi when they a attended the Seminar in Banjor, Wales in August of 1967.
The Anthology take consists of Paul on piano, but there’s also drums and guitar on the track as well as a mellotron. (Ringo, George and John).
Some flutes also join in towards the end.
I’d read a few places before that this song was based on an incident when Paul & another friend/assistant/other guy were walking on a hill (possibly stoned or more), and his dog ran off, they turned to look and a man was walking toward them, they turned back (to look for dog), & a second later they looked back over & the man had disappeared – from that close to them. And they swore it wasn’t drug-induced, & supposedly this got them into ‘deeper’ (existential) conversations about the universe & greater powers, etc. for the next few hours. Both times I saw this (or it was at least a story close to it, trying to recall a few years ago), it was in some kind of first-hand bio on the Beatles – & I THINK with Paul actually being quoted. Anybody?
I’d read a few places before that this song was based on an incident when Paul & another friend/assistant/other guy were walking on a hill (possibly stoned or more), and his dog ran off, they turned to look and a man was walking toward them, they turned back (to look for dog), & a second later they looked back over & the man had disappeared – from that close to them. And they swore it wasn’t drug-induced, & supposedly this got them into ‘deeper’ (existential) conversations about the universe & greater powers, etc. for the next few hours. Both times I saw this (or it was at least a story close to it, trying to recall a few years ago), it was in some kind of first-hand bio on the Beatles – & I THINK with Paul actually being quoted. Anybody?
The hill in question was Primrose Hill in London, a popular spot with a great view!
Interesting that people are connecting this song with I Am The Walrus as two halves of the twin geniuses. Both songs start with a similar piano intro, both songs are about an individual … one a fool and the other a walrus… AND…The fool is John and the walrus was Paul!!!
Slave,
Actually, Paul say’s “The Fool” was based on the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. With the Maharishi always carrying flowers and he is aways giggling but he was alway wise. And John Lennon actually does play “The Walrus” in “I Am The Walrus” video. The Walrus = A dead guy? Ha, Ha
Paul said “I think I was writing about someone like the Maharishi.” Hmm that’s really a maybe. Paul always veiled the true meaning of his lyrics. And wasn’t John just a different kind of misunderstood guru fool? Ha!
Slave,
I rather believe Paul McCartney the Writer than you!
“‘Fool On The Hill’ was mine and I think I was writing about someone like Maharishi. His detractors called him a fool. Because of his giggle, he wasn’t taken too seriously. It was this idea of a fool on a hill, a guru in a cave, I was attracted to. I remember once hearing about a hermit who missed the Secord World War because he’d been in a cave in Italy, and that always appealed to me.
I was sitting at the piano at my father’s house in Liverpool hitting the D 6th cord, and I made up ‘Fool On The Hill’. There were some good words in it, ‘perfectly still’, I liked that, and the idea that everyone thinks he’d stupid appealed to me, because they still do. Saviours or gurus are generally spat upon, so I thought for my generation I’d suggest that they weren’t as stupid as they looked.”
Page 365 & 366 Paul McCartney Many Years From Now, Author Barry Miles
Guru – It’s a Sanskrit term for a “mentor, guide, expert, or master” of certain knowledge or field.
Saviour – A person who saves someone or something (especially a country or a cause) from danger, and who is regarded with the veneration of a religious figure.
By the way everybody is unique!
And Paul McCartney is not thinking about John Lennon ALL of time, especially during the sixty’s & the seventies. He is living his life…
Well would you believe Hunter Davies who there too?
“The Beatles’ 1968 authorised biography contains a lengthy passage in which writer Hunter Davies observed Lennon and McCartney as they composed ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’, at McCartney’s house in London.”
From Hunter Davies :
“Paul then went back to his guitar and started to sing and play a very slow, beautiful song about a foolish man sitting on the hill.“
If Paul had written this during the time they were composing With a Little Help From My Friends” then the song pre-dates their trip to India. How could Paul be writing about the Maharishi then?
Your move Mr. Bachelor
“…someone LIKE Maharishi.” It is important to read the actual words.
“Paul always veiled the true meaning of his lyrics.” Also would like to point out this is your opinion, not fact.
Slave, I saw your comment last month and I was waiting on book The Beatles by Hunter Davies, published in 1968, 1985, 2002 and 2006, to get here in the mail, to give some context.
In March 1967 until closed to April – “A little Help from My Friends” (They recorded the song on March 30-31, 1967) page 304 – 308 –
Page 307
“Paul then went back to his guitar and started to sing and play a very slow, beautiful song about a foolish man sitting on the hill. John listed to it quietly, staring blankly out of the window, almost as if he wasn’t listening. Paul sang it many times, la la-ing WORDS HE HADN’T THOUGHT OF YET. When at last he finished, John said he’d better write the words down or he’d forget them. Paul said it was OK. He wouldn’t forget them. It was the first time Paul had played for it for John. There was no discussion.”
In April, May, June and July of 1967? Before The Beatles had met the Maharishi in August. Why would Paul come up with a song “The Fool on the Hill”? When did they not meet the Maharishi until August of 1967? But George had met Ravi Shankar during the filming of “Help!” in 1965. And Ravi was from India and so was The Maharishi. George and Ravi could have talk about how things are in India, possibly they talk about The Maharishi, beginning in 1965. George would convey the news to the rest of The Beatles.
I would not be surprised if Paul McCartney knew about The Maharishi in 1965 or sooner.
And in 1961, While he was in England the Maharishi appear on the BBC and Paul would see him and laugh.
And Ravi Shanker opens up the Western Branch of the Kinnara School of music in Los Angeles in May of 1967.
George Harrison meets Ravi Shankar on August 3, 1967.
Patti Harrison reads about the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on August 3, 1967.
The Beatles meet the Maharishi on August 24, 1967.
And The lyrics to “The Fool on the Hill” WAS NOT WRITTEN UNTIL September of 1967.
And
Paul McCartney Many Years from Now, By Barry Miles. Published in 1997.
“Fool on the Hill” page 365-366
” ‘Fool on the Hill’ was mine and I think I was writing about someone like Maharishi. His detractors called him a fool. Because of his giggle he wasn’t taken too seriously. It was this idea of a fool on the hill, a guru in a cave. I was attracted to. I remember once hearing about a hermit who missed the Second World War because he’d been in a cave in Italy, and that always appealed to me.
I was sitting at the piano at my father’s house in Liverpool hitting a D 6th chord and I made up ‘Fool on the Hill’. There were some good words in it, ‘perfectly still’, I liked that, and the idea that everyone thinks he’s stupid appealed to me, because they still do. SAVIOURS OR GURUS are generally spat upon, so I thought for my generation I’d suggest that they WEREN’T AS STUPID AS THEY LOOKED.
It was written before or during the Sgt. Pepper sessions the year before, because he first played it to John at Cavendish Avenue in March 1967 when they were working on ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’. John told him to write it down but Paul assured him that he wouldn’t forget it.”
Paul McCartney could have started out with him thinking about Martin Luther King as “Fool” and a “Saviour” and with Paul finish off with The Maharishi as a “Fool” or a “Guru” by September of 1967.
And Paul McCartney was not thinking of John Lennon as a “Fool”!
Slave,
Paul McCartney knew about the Maharishi when he was a kid watching T.V.
In the “Beatles” book, publishing in 1968 – They were over at Paul house at St. John’s Wood – When Hunter Davies said Paul had not yet thought of some of the words in “The Fool a Hill” on page 307 – “Paul sang it many times, la la-ing WORDS HE HADN’T THOUGHT OF YET.”
At this point, Paul McCartney had the melody, but lyric remained uncomplete until September of 1967, AFTER HE MET The Maharishi.
McCartney said the idea for the song was inspired by the Dutch design collective the Fool, who derived their name from tarot card of the same name and possibly by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
This happens around the time when they were recording “A Little Help from My Friends” on March 30 and 31, 1967.
Also, Paul owns his own Sitar (That is Interesting) – page 307 “Paul got his Sitar from corner and sat down and started to tune it”. George became aware of Ravi Shankar when became interested in the “Sitar”.
And
The project “Magical Mystery Tour” was initiated by Paul McCartney in April of 1967. But after the band recorded the song “Magical Mystery Tour”, it lay dormant until after the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, in late August.
On May 26, 1967, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Club Band” Album had just come out.
George Harrison meets Ravi Shankar on August 2, 1967, in Los Angles.
And Patti reads about the Maharishi on August 3, 1967.
The Beatles meet The Maharishi on August 24, 1967.
Brian Epstein died on August 27, 1967.
Paul McCartney finishes the lyrics to “The Fool on the Hill” in early part of September of 1967.
On October 30, 1967 – Paul and Mal flies to France to do a video on “The Fool on the Hill” for “The Magical Mystery Tour”.
And released the song “The Fool on the Hill” on November 27, 1967 (US LP) and on December 8, 1967, in the UK (EP).
And “Magical Mystery Tour” comes out on November 27, 1967 (US LP) and on December 8, 1967 (UK EP).
Side note – Paul McCartney knew about the Maharishi because from 1958 – 1965 – The Maharishi did a series of World Tours giving lectures expressing his teaching in Spiritual and religious terms. And The Maharishi was on the BBC in 1961.
Take a look at David Lynch interviews of Paul McCartney about Meditation and Maharishi on You Tube – Paul McCartney tells us – “When we were kids growing up in Liverpool. Because, as you know, he went around the World seven times to spread his message. He was on T.V. And we remembered this giggly little guy, and we thought we loved him. We just said he’s so cool, you know. And he just on T.V. and he was giving an interview and would giggle…that fabulous laugh of his. And he was very entertaining and very attractive. So, we all said, ‘that’s the guy!’ “
What is making the sound like birds panning across the stereo picture after the last vocal part?
I read that the late Ray Thomas (Moody Blues’ flautist) claimed to have played harmonica on this track
Where is this painting? I made a tempera painting of it (sans the blue tint) in the 80s for someone but I don’t remember what LP it was on.
There is also a very subtle piano trimello from Dear Prudence
The flutes are too prominent, especially during the verses. I’d rather hear more of the bass harmonicas, acoustic guitar, and percussion (i.e., instruments played by the Beatles). Less polish, more spit.