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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney is not a big fan of The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour.
  • He loves the “I Am the Walrus” and “The Fool on the Hill” scenes of the movie.
  • “I Am the Walrus” was a modest hit in the United States but not in the United Kingdom.
The Beatles in black-and-white during the "I Am the Walrus" era
The Beatles | John Pratt / Stringer

Paul McCartney has several issues with The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour film. Despite this, he said the song “I Am the Walrus” gave the movie some value. He also singled out one of the other musical sequences in the film for praise.

Paul McCartney discussed why The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ is flawed

In the 2015 book Conversations with McCartney, Paul discussed how the film Magical Mystery Tour came together. “We hired a coach, had it painted with Magical Mystery Tour on the side and said, ‘We’ll just go down to Devon, film every day, get off and do some set pieces here and there. We’ll think it up as we went along,'” he said. “And I suppose that’s what’s wrong with it.”

Paul elaborated on his issues with the film. “It hasn’t got much structure,” he said. “It was cheeky, cos people in film school were dying to make a movie, trained to the hilt, and there was us, the beat boys: ‘Hey, we’ll have a go! I can do that!’ I somehow ended up as the guy who was gonna get it all together, ring ’em, book ’em. Everyone seemed happy to let me do it, I don’t think anyone else wanted the bother.”

Paul McCartney loves The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ and ‘The Fool on the Hill’

Subsequently, Paul discussed some of the highlights of Magical Mystery Tour. “But as a film, generally … if nothing else, just for the ‘I Am the Walrus’ sequence,” he said.

“I think ‘Fool on the Hill’ is good too,” he added. “A couple of the musical sequences make it. It’s got an anarchic sway that I like.” He also praised the film for having “an anarchic sway.”

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The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ Was Inspired By a ‘F*cking Bastard’

How ‘I Am the Walrus’ performed in the United States and the United Kingdom

“I Am the Walrus” became a modest hit in the United States. It reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed on the chart for four weeks. The song appeared on the soundtrack for Magical Mystery Tour. The LP peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for eight weeks. The album lasted on the chart for 93 weeks.

The Official Charts Company reports “I Am the Walrus” never charted in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, Magical Mystery Tour reached No. 31 in the U.K. and remained on the chart for 10 weeks.

“I Am the Walrus” later appeared in the Fab Four jukebox musical Across the Universe. In the film, Bono covered the song while playing a character called Doctor Robert. The character appears to be based on 1960s guru Timothy Leary.

“I Am the Walrus” was not a big hit. However, Paul felt it helped redeem the Magical Mystery Tour film.

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