Paul McCartney has revealed that “The Fool on the Hill,” one of the standout tracks on The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour, was shaped by a Tarot reading that kept returning the same card, alongside his admiration for spiritual teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Paul McCartney has spoken about how “The Fool on the Hill,” one of the more unconventional tracks on The Beatles’ 1967 album Magical Mystery Tour, was partly inspired by a Tarot card reading. In his 1997 book Many Years From Now, McCartney explained that the song grew out of his fascination with the Fool card, which repeatedly appeared during a reading given by artist Marijke Koger. He later said the song was also shaped by his admiration for Indian spiritual teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whom The Beatles had grown close to during that period.
The Tarot reading that sparked the idea
McCartney was introduced to Tarot by Koger, an artist whose striking poster and album cover designs had caught the attention of Beatles manager Brian Epstein and roadie Mal Evans. Koger and her colleague Simon were later invited to contribute to the initial illustrations for the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Recalling the experience in Many Years From Now, McCartney said: “I used to know Marijke, she was a quite striking-looking girl. She used to read my fortune in Tarot cards, which was something I wasn’t too keen on because I didn’t want to draw the death card one day. I still don’t like that kind of stuff because I know my mind will dwell on it.”
During one such reading, McCartney found himself repeatedly drawing the same card. “I always steered a bit clear of all that shit, but in fact, it always used to come out as the Fool,” he said. “And I used to say, ‘Oh, dear!’ and she used to say, ‘No no no. The Fool’s a very good card. On the surface it looks stupid, the Fool, but in fact it’s one of the best cards, because it’s the innocent, it’s the child, it’s that reading of fool.'”
From Tarot symbolism to a tribute to the Maharishi
McCartney later clarified that the song was also inspired by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, saying it reflected how spiritual teachers are often dismissed as foolish despite possessing genuine wisdom. He said the “fool” in the song represented someone open to ridicule because of unconventional beliefs that may nevertheless hold truth, and stressed that the track was intended as a complimentary portrait of the Maharishi rather than a criticism.
That reframing of the Fool, from a figure of ridicule to one of quiet wisdom, fitted the broader spiritual exploration many musicians were undertaking in the late 1960s, as interest in meditation and Eastern philosophy grew within The Beatles’ circle. Rather than presenting these ideas as direct endorsements, McCartney used simple imagery to hint at larger themes, leaving listeners to draw their own conclusions. The opening lines of the song capture that contradiction: “Day after day, alone on a hill / The man with the foolish grin / Is keeping perfectly still / But nobody wants to know him / They can see that he’s just a fool / And he never gives an answer.”
Writing and recording the track
McCartney has said he wrote the song on piano at his father’s house in Liverpool, with the melody beginning around a D sixth chord. The track was recorded between September and October 1967, before being included on Magical Mystery Tour, which was released in the UK on 8 December 1967. A solo demo McCartney recorded ahead of the full band sessions was later released on The Beatles’ Anthology 2 compilation.
John Lennon reportedly praised the song at the time, describing it as “another good lyric” and remarking that it demonstrated McCartney’s ability to write complete, fully realised songs.
The promotional film sequence for “The Fool on the Hill,” shot for the Magical Mystery Tour project, was filmed separately from much of the rest of the film, near Nice in the south of France.
A long literary tradition
McCartney was far from the first artist to present the fool as a figure of hidden wisdom. Shakespeare explored the same idea centuries earlier, notably through the Jester in King Lear, the only character permitted to challenge the mad king’s decisions. Though outwardly a figure of comic relief, the Jester possesses more clarity and good sense than almost anyone else in the play. McCartney’s fool, who “sees the world spinning round” while others see only darkness, draws on that same long-standing tradition of wisdom disguised as folly.
