The Beatles’ ‘The Fool on the Hill’: Paul McCartney Discussed the Guru and the Hermit Who Inspired the Song
Paul McCartney said The Beatles‘ “The Fool on the Hill” was inspired by a guru whose critics called him a “fool.” In addition, Paul said a hermit who didn’t engage in World War II influenced the song. “The Fool on the Hill” appeared on the soundtrack of one of The Beatles’ movies.
The Beatles followed a Hindu guru at 1 point
The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, sometimes called the Maharishi, was a Hindu guru who served as a spiritual guide for The Beatles. In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul connected the Maharishi to “The Fool on the Hill.” “‘Fool on the Hill’ was mine and I think I was writing about someone like Maharishi,” Paul said. “His detractors called him a fool. Because of his giggle he wasn’t taken too seriously.”
Paul discussed another guru. “It was this idea of a fool on the hill, a guru in a cave, I was attracted to,” he added. “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.”
Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ ‘The Fool on the Hill’ had a message for his generation
Subsequently, Paul revealed how “The Fool on the Hill” came together. “I was sitting at the piano in at my father’s house in Liverpool hitting a 6th chord and I made up ‘Fool on the Hill,'” he said. “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.”
Paul said “The Fool on the Hill” had a message. “Saviors or gurus are generally spat upon, so I thought for my generation I’d suggest that they weren’t as stupid as they looked,” he said. Paul managed to remember the song even though he did not bother to write it down.
How ‘The Fool on the Hill’ and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
In the United States, “The Fool on the Hill” was never a single. Therefore, it didn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The Beatles included the tune on the soundtrack for the movie Magical Mystery Tour. For eight weeks, the album topped the Billboard 200. Magical Mystery Tour stayed on the chart for 93 weeks altogether.
“The Fool on the Hill” never became a single in the United Kingdom either. The Official Charts Company reports the song didn’t chart in the U.K. Meanwhile, Magical Mystery Tour reached No. 31 and remained on the chart for 10 weeks.
“The Fool on the Hill” is a classic song and it has notable connections to two gurus.
