this incident prompted McCartney to write "The Fool on the Hill". McCartney played the song for John Lennon during a writing session for "With a Little Help from My Friends" in March 1967. At this point, McCartney had the melody but the lyrics remained incomplete until September. Lennon told him to write it down; McCartney said he did not need to, because he was sure he would not forget it. In his 1980 interview with Playboy magazine, Lennon said, "Now that's Paul. Another good lyric. Shows he's capable of writing complete songs." Composition The song involves alternations of D major and D minor in a similar manner to Cole Porter's alternations of C minor and C major in "Night and Day". The verses are in the major key while the chorus changes to the parallel minor, indicating the confusion implied by the song title. Ian MacDonald says the change to the parallel minor key effectively conveys "the simultaneously literal and metaphorical sense of the sun going behind a cloud". The D major tonality that begins with an Em7 chord on "Nobody wants to know him" moves through a ii7–V7–I6–vi7–ii7–V7 progression until the shift to the Dm tone and key on "but the fool". According to musicologist Dominic Pedler, other highlights are the use in the Dm section of a minor sixth (B) melody note on the word "sun" (with a Dm5 chord) and a major ninth (E melody note) on the word "world" (with a Dm chord). Recording The Beatles recorded "The Fool on the Hill" for their Magical Mystery Tour film project. It was the band's first project following the death of their manager, Brian Epstein; according to publicist Tony Barrow, McCartney envisaged the film establishing a "whole new phase of their career" with himself as "the film producer of the Beatles". McCartney first taped a solo demo of the song on 6 September 1967. This version was later released on the Anthology 2 compilation. Recording began in earnest on 25 September, with significant overdubs by the Beatles on 26 September. Mark Lewisohn said that the 26 September version was "almost a re-make". A take from 25 September – noticeably slower, somewhat heavier and with slightly different vocals – is also included on Anthology 2. After another session on 27 September, where McCartney added another vocal, the song sat for a month before flutes were added on 20 October.