Talk:The Fool on the Hill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale.		This Beatles-related article is within the scope of The Beatles WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve and expand Wikipedia coverage of The Beatles, Apple Records, George Martin, Brian Epstein/NEMS, and related topics. You are more than welcome to join the project and/or contribute to discussion.	This article has not been rated on the importance scale.
		Suggested article edit guidelines: New additions to articles should be attributed to reliable and verifiable sources, using inline citations per the Project's style guide. The system is very easy to use so please do try to help by following this guideline. Most articles should be written in British English. Some terms may be different from - or non-existent in - American English, and some spellings may differ. For more information, see American and British English differences. If this article is Unassessed, please assess it. See the Article Assessment Department for instructions. If you disagree with a rating, you can change it or discuss it at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject The Beatles/Assessment. This article is also within the scope of WikiProject Songs, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to songs on Wikipedia. A Song Infobox has been requested for this article. Please format it according to the guidelines.
Article Grading: The article has been rated for quality and/or importance but has no comments yet. If appropriate, please review the article and then leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need.
The Beatles To-do: You can HELP!: Open tasks for WikiProject The Beatles. Edit or discuss these tasks. To Expand: Apple Records See also: Adopt an article To Clean up: Apple Records discography (wikify). The Beatles' 1965 USA Tour. Italian Cover Versions of Beatles' songs To Merge: To Create: Phil McDonald (engineer). Lennon/McCartney songs: I'll Keep You Satisfied (produced by George Martin), From A Window. George Martin produced Billy J. Kramer song: Magic Carpet (song). Bag o'Nails, where Paul met Linda. Articles on each Beatle tour (Category:The Beatles tours). The Lost Lennon Tapes, notable radio series which has spawned many bootlegs. Full list & instructions. Lists to complete: Wanted Pics/Graphics: Jimmy Nicol, Alistair Taylor, Ivan Vaughan, Tittenhurst Park, Tony Barrow. Project Discussions: The Beatles history, Individual songs vs longer album articles, Beatle wives, Merge/split proposals Project: Add {{WPBeatles}} to the talk pages of all Beatles-related articles. Send a newsletter to members, canvas for new members, and coordinate tasks. Enter articles classed as stubs into this list (under To Expand) and also list articles needing cleaning and other work here. If you complete one of these tasks, please remove it from the list and add your achievement to the project log.

An {{Infobox Single}}, {{Infobox Song}} or {{Infobox Standard}} has been requested for this article. Please select the appropriate infobox and format it according to the guidelines.

An infobox was requested for the 1968 Sérgio Mendes version of "The Fool on the Hill" at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Missing_encyclopedic_articles/List_of_notable_songs/13.

References! Where are the references? Aaadddaaammm 04:36, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Other possibilities

Mention of other theories of the meaning of this song? About Hitler, for example? Aaadddaaammm 04:43, 15 October 2006 (UTC) I also agree there is other meaning, i belive that the song may reffer to buddy holly. buddy holly was often called a "hillbilly"- also, the chourus for me is what stands in the basic of what is art. all the beatles like holly, and so did paul, i think it might very well reffer to buddy holly. (P.S. the hitler theory is dumb.)

[edit] Moved from article

The following story: 1. seems weird; 2. wasn't mentioned by Lennon or McCartney as quoted here; 3. has been copied literally from another website (Songfacts). More references should be found for it. --194.145.161.227 23:48, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

The song is about a man who is considered a fool by others, but whose foolish demeanor is actually an indication of wisdom.

The event which prompted this song happened when Paul McCartney was walking his dog, Martha, on Primrose Hill one morning. As he watched the sun rise, he noticed that Martha was missing. McCartney turned around to look for his dog, and saw a man standing near him, who had suddenly appeared on the hill. The gentleman was dressed respectably, in a belted raincoat.

McCartney knew that this man had not been there seconds earlier as he had looked in that direction for Martha. He and the stranger exchanged a greeting, and this man then spoke of what a beautiful view it was from the top of the hill (that overlooked London). After a few seconds, McCartney looked around again, and the man was gone. He had vanished as he had appeared. A friend of McCartney's, Alistair Taylor, who was present with McCartney during this strange incident, later wrote of this event in his book, Yesterday.^[1]

Both McCartney and Taylor could not imagine what happened to this man. He had seemed to vanish in thin air. The nearest trees for cover were too far to reach by walking or running in a few seconds, and the crest of the hill was too far to reach in that short time. What made the experience even more mysterious was that just before this man first appeared, McCartney and Taylor were speaking to each other of the beauty of the view towards London and the existence of God.

Back home, they spent the morning discussing what had happened, trying to make some sense of it. They both agreed that this was something others would infer occurred as a result of an acid trip, but they both swore they had not taken or used any drugs.

[edit] Perhaps the Most Pet Sounds-like in production Beatles song?

I have just listened to this a few times recently and realised how similar in production style to Brian Wilson's in the Pet Sounds era. Note the flutes, the bass harmonica, acoustic guitar and double tracked vocals. It is certainly different in song structure - much more minor key oriented but production certainly seems to nod more to Pet Sounds than Sgt. Peppers. What does anybody else think? Not really worthy or mention is it?89.242.56.172 21:22, 13 June 2007 (UTC)