it with "I Am the Walrus" as being "by far the most outstanding cuts" on the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack. Writing in his book The Beatles Forever, Nicholas Schaffner identified the same tracks as "two of the most impressive Beatle songs ever". He said "The Fool on the Hill" was among McCartney's "most irresistible, universal" ballads, with a lyric that successfully transposed into pop music the literary theme established through fairy tales, through stories of monarchs prizing their court jester over more learned counsel, and in Dostoevsky's popular novel The Idiot. Bob Woffinden said the film project was undertaken too quickly after Epstein's death, at McCartney's insistence, and McCartney's misguided leadership was also reflected in the "particularly narcissistic" sequence he created for "The Fool on the Hill". Tim Riley writes that unlike the sharp insights offered by fools in Shakespeare's works, the lyrics teach the listener "Little or nothing, except how to pull the heartstrings." Riley concludes: "Possibilities in this song outweigh its substance – it's the most unworthy Beatles standard since 'Michelle.'" Ian MacDonald admires the melody as "poignantly expressive" and says the lyric "skirts sentiment by never committing itself, remaining open to several different interpretations". He describes the song as "an airy creation, poised peacefully above the world in a place where time and haste are suspended" and says that its "timeless appeal ... lies in its paradoxical air of childlike wisdom and unworldliness". Writing for Rough Guides, Chris Ingham includes "The Fool on the Hill" among the Beatles' "essential" songs. He calls the melody "bewitching" and adds: "part of the joy of the piece is the finely judged lyrical ambiguity that, along with the beautiful spaciousness of the arrangement (all flutes, recorders, bass harmonica and whispery brushes on the drums), allows a myriad of implied meanings to float beguilingly into the imagination of the listener." In 2012, "The Fool on the Hill" was ranked the 420th-best classic rock song of all time by New York's Q104.3. In 2006, Mojo ranked it 71st in the magazine's list of "The 101 Greatest Beatles Songs". In 2018, the music staff of Time Out London ranked it at number 34 on their list of the best Beatles songs. McCartney live performances The Beatles were no longer performing concerts when they released "The Fool on the Hill". McCartney considered including it in the set list for his and Wings' 1975–76 world tour