What were the "four thousand holes in Blackburn Lancashire", referred to in the Beatles song "A Day in the Life"? | Notes and Queries

What were the "four thousand holes in Blackburn Lancashire", referred to in the Beatles song "A Day in the Life"? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk

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STAGE AND SCREEN

What were the "four thousand holes in Blackburn Lancashire", referred to in the Beatles song "A Day in the Life"?

Paul Elliott, Kendal Cumbria

I believe the answer is rather prosaic. John Lennon's inspiration for his lyrics in the song came in part from reading a newspaper. Someone rich was reported as having committed suicide in his car (the 'lucky man who made the grade'). Another column mentioned the state of road repair in Blackburn, where, to the shock and horror of the readership, there were 4,000 holes. A lot of John Lennon's writing was pythonesque, even before the Beatles' celebrated acid-dropping experiences, so please don't believe that this is either some sort of drug-induced insight or eternal truth.
Simon Gilman, London

It all relates to the line 'I read the news today, oh boy'. In the same paper with the details of the car crash, Lennon saw on an adjoining page, an article about the results of a survey by Blackburn's Council which concluded there were over 4,000 potholes on the streets.
Neil McLoram, UK

A newspaper article John Lennon happened to come across.
Robert del Valle, Detroit USA

It was John Lennon's idea to write this song by combining ideas taken from the newspapers. He and Paul scanned the Dail Mail for Jan 17th. 1967 and their eye caught the following short article: "There are 4000 holes in the road in Blackburn Lancashire, one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey. If Blackburn is typical then there are over two million holes in Britain's roads and 300 000 in London." There was no connection between this and another piece about the Albert Hall; it was just their imagination that made the link.
Terence Hollingworth, Blagnac France

The line was inspired by a newspaper report John Lennon read, claiming that there were 4000 potholes in the streets of Blackburn.
Philip Howell, Birmingham UK

I have heard that this line was taken from a newspaper. It was part of a story describing how the Blackburn council sent someone out to identify all the potholes in the city's roads. This they did, but the report cost so much that, having identified all the potholes, they couldn't afford to repair any of them.
john, Maidenhead UK

The finest opening paragraph to a sports report that I ever read was written more than 20 years ago by Randall Butt, soccer writer for the Cambridge Evening News. Cambridge United had been thrashed by Blackburn Rovers in a second division match. Butt's world-weary intro read: "Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, and most of them were in Cambridge United's defence..."
Howard Rose, Dublin

Folk lore as a youth was that "4000 holes" were 4000 dope smokers.
Nigel, London

Although the answers above offer an explanation for the origin of the 4,000 holes, none explains how this relates to the Albert Hall. I believe this to be the significant missing piece of this mystery into the workings of Lennon's mind. Another popular cult belief is that a "hole" refers to a unit of decaying flesh as discussed in the "Tibetan Book of the Dead." At the time, Lennon was influenced by Eastern Misticism and The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The reference, so the cult belief goes, is that Lennon was poking fun at the wealthy folk who attended concerts at the Albert Hall (referring to them as "decaying flesh").
M. Weinberg, Kissimmee US

Further to the previous correspondent's answer, A Day In The Life was in fact the first song to be recorded for Sgt Pepper, five months before the album was released. John Lennon did not begin to follow the Maharishi's teachings until the summer of that year. I suggest that the Albert Hall reference is a fairly straightforward and intentional conceptual paradox; anyone that has been to the Albert Hall will have marvelled at the sheer expanse of space therein. Asking how many holes would fill that space is inherently absurd and is therefore interesting in its own right. In the context of the Blackburn road problem, it lends an interesting bent to an otherwise mundane and workaday piece of news in the newspaper. This kind of inspired wordplay was typical of Lennon, who revelled in the absurd. Unfortunately, listeners have too often tried to read meaning into that which was never intended as more than wry punning (you may as well ask why John was the walrus when every Beatles fan knows that 'The Walrus was Paul'. Oh, and the person who 'blew his mind out in a car' was Tara Browne, heir to the Guinness estate who was a close friend of the Beatles and was killed in a car accident in 1966.
Max Wurr, stanmore Middlesex

This line is a fantastic example of John Lennon's song writing and sense of humour. I would like to submit however, that 'When I'm Sixty-Four' was actually the first song recored on the album. December 6, 1966 saw the beginning of recording of the Sgt. Pepper's album with this song. 'A Day in the Life' recording sessions did not begin until January 19, 1967, but true to your assertion, pre-dates the Beatles interest with Eastern religion.
Andrew, Peterborough Canada

Actually it was a direct quote from a recently discovered obscure Scottish bard, "For thou's an old sin, black bairn, lankish ere."
Jim, London UK

My guess is that John would be laughing if he could somehow read this argument today. Nevertheless, when he was alive, he said: "I was writing the song with the Daily Mail propped up in front of me on the piano, I had it open at their News In Brief, or Far and Near, whatever they call it. There was a paragraph about 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancaster, being discovered and there was still one word missing in that verse when we came to record. I knew the line had to go 'Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.' It was a nonsense verse really, but for some reason I couldn't think of the verb. What did the holes do to the Albert Hall? It was Terry (Doran) who said 'fill' the Albert Hall." John Lennon
Jeff Benjamin, Los Angeles, USA

I believe this lyric was intentionally mistranscribed in the production of "Sgt. Pepper". The "holes" is actually "wholes" a '60s psychobabble term for emotionally intact individuals who had reach full maturity in their social and spiritual development. Such people would naturally show up in droves at the Royal Albert Hall for entertainment befitting their especial completeness. Surveys at the time revealed that Blackburn is home to 4000-strong, self-actualized people -- the ideal demographic for RAH fare.
Steve MacDonald, Kansas City, USA

I think you're right about it referring to the silly newspaper stories when councillors go and find useless information out (when is someone going to write a song about the cost to replace the M6 - I seem to recall the council asking someone that a few years ago!). As for the link to the Albert Hall it could be all linked to both The Beatles home town and Lancashire, both of which have Albert Hall's - There is an Albert Hall in Liverpool opposite the train station on Lime Street and there is an Albert Hall in Bolton, Lancashire (above the town hall) - also BOLTON and BLACKBURN are very similar names.
Darren Forster, Warrington, UK

The 4000 holes is referring to the children who were killed in Blackburn and buried.
John , Coventry England

Blackburn is just one BIG hole anyhow.
Bob, Liverpool, Merseyside

I believe the 4,000 holes were the pot hole story in the paper. But - I always remember hearing that the phrase "now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall" was a jab at critics claims that the Stones were more popular than the Beatles because they sold more tickets at their Albert Hall concert. It's cool to think this is a jab at the critics. It's like saying "who cares how many tickets we sold vs. them or anyone? We are the Beatles!"
Shacky, Rochester USA

Wikipedia says that the line "now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall" can be explained by the fact that there was one hole for every 26 people in Blackburn, Lancashire. While the Royal Albert Hall holds about 8000 people, you would have needed about 308 holes to fill it. Because there are 26 people for every hole, of course... And I always thought the line was about assholes! This whole hole story in my opinion is so funny, especially with the additional information given by John in Maidenhead, UK! Beatles rule and Paul is alive! ...I think...
Sebastian, Germany

There is no connection to the Albert Hall reference in this song. That's the point Lennon is trying to get across. The whole theme of the song is making fun of the news and how irrelevant it is. So is the line about Albert Hall. He is trying to ask why the hell someone had to count all the holes and what good it did. He is just telling us there was no point in it.
Nick, Lubbock, USA

"Bums in seats" is the UK version of the American promoters' goal of filling concert halls; it would be humorous, in a Lennonesque way, to bridge the meaninglessness of counted potholes with the number of seats filled - though rather small - at the Stones/Beatles concert of 1963 at the Albert Hall, the number of attendees at which was similar to that counted by Lancashire street officials.
Ken, Cleveland, USA

Everyone is looking so far into weird obscura. Lennon was perverse. 4000 holes refers to vaginas and how many of the teenage variety could fit into a venue at the Albert Hall, like say a Beatles gig mayhaps? This thread is absurd. Lennon would have loved it.
Jeremy Meserve, Watertown, Massachusetts, USA

The English army has just won the war ... that was the day before notice he read, and now says, I read the news today ... 4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, the holes were rather small, they had to count them all ... these holes are sepulchers for the soldiers that die in the English war ... now you know how many sepulchers are needed to fill the Albert Hall ...
Jorge Rodriguez, Monterrey Mexico

Was it not the number of holes: drinking holes? i.e. Pubs? At that time Blackburn was a large industrial town and most working men finished their days in the pub. There was a pub on every street corner so 4000 pubs in Blackburn is VERY possible.
Andrew Donelan, Blackburn, Lancashire

As explaination given by Paul, George and Ringo in the special being aired this week on VH1 Classics "Beatles Anthology" the holes were inreference to a newpaper story John and Paul had seen at the time of the recording of "St. Pepper". The potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire. The Albert Hall reference was also a story they had read in the same newspaper. It is most likely that the whole song was probably written from that newspaper, esp. since it is mentioned "I read the news today, o-boy"...The rest of the song is history and has made history.
R.A. McGhin, Lakeland, USA

More of a question. Was it a suicide or anaccident? "He blew his mind out in a car" sounds like suicide, but "he hadn't noticed that the lights had changed" sounds like an accident.
Tony Chamberlain, Naperville, USA

I really enjoyed reading all the answers. I now believe the pot holes theory. But, I always thought it was an iv drug user reference, that is; The holes to fill the Albert Hall, I have always and still believe it to be a love/hate term for others... "ass-hole" good or bad. Just as George Carlin pointed out how your possessions and things are "your stuff" while others' belongings were merely "their shit". If that makes any sense... if not, blame it on the holes... just kidding. Maybe, just maybe, we're missing the obvious: Hey Hey Hey... It's Fat Albert!
Jeff Solomon/Downz, Spokane, USA

This lyric has special meaning to me, I used to sing it to my late Dad to wind him up as he was from Blackburn!
Sally Brotherton, Crewe, Cheshire

Many years ago, whilst tuning my car radio on my way home from work in Toledo, Ohio I was surprised to hear what sounded like a mention of the Lancashire town I had left in 1956 for greener pastures. I recognised The Beatles but had never heard that particular song before. And the 4,000 holes reference puzzled me even more. A visit to the local record store confirmed the reference but I've waited and wondered till just now (April 2010)to discover the probable explanation for those wonderfully surrealistic lines. I'll sleep better tonight thanks to your ever-so-smart contributors!
Frank Ward, Toledo, USA

I've listened to this song for over forty years and have always thought it was just a way to say "now they know how many 'assholes' it takes to fill the Albert Hall". Ordinary max capacity is 3929, so it makes sense to me. A send-up for some reason.
TS Deal, Moorestown, USA

So many bizarre & idiotic guesses. Lennon was jealous of the Stones - of course he would never admit it! The Stones filled Albert Hall and the "holes" were assholes obviously. And the "lucky man" killed himself because he was bummed at getting a red light, another example of his dark humour.
Gordon, Medford, US

I always thought the line referred to the search for the missing children, too.
Cydarion, NYC, USA

In England the Albert Hall is used to denote any large space as in "you couldn't fit that guy's stomach in the Albert Hall". John Lennon was just making a joke. A hole is an empty space so how is it possible to know how many it would take to fill the Albert Hall? He was just making a joke about bureaucracy.
Beatle Lover, London, UK

LOL...I can't believe your answers! It is quite simple. Paul McCartney explained what the holes are. They were referring to 4000 screaming girls filling up Albert Hall for a concert. Paul said there were only two dirty references in their songs...this being one and the other is from Penny Lane, "full of fish and finger pies". Mystery is over.
Ann, Hollywood, USA

Only two "dirty lines" in all of the Beatles' work? Goodness no! "Back in the USSR" is replete with sexual innuendo: "...show me round the snow peaked mountains way down south // take me to your daddy's farm // let me hear your balalaikas ringing out // come and keep your comrade warm // I'm back in the USSR...Oh let me tell you honey" is a thinly veiled and deliciously punned description of vigorous sexual intercourse.
Robret Stuart, Wilbraham, Massachusetts US

"He blew his mind out in a car..." I doubt this is a suicide at all. If it were John would have used 'brain' or 'head' instead. A mind describes a person's intellect or consciousness, and not the corporeal. Ergo, the line in the song refers to something more akin to, "whoa, that just blew my mind..."
Reginald, Bird-in-Hand, PA USA

lucky man who made the grade.. that is a politically graded or elevated individual no? joke start I had to laugh; I saw the photograph: he blew his mind out in a car; he didn't notice that the lights had changed: joke end.. a crowd stared, unsure about his position as a lord.. That just adds a layer of humour, does anybody see the visual shock effect here? What's so funny about a dead guy with face splattered around his car.. The fact that he can't see the lights? His eyes are on the roof.. people honking, wondering why this asshole won't go, I imagine the picture John saw showing the gory scene displayed beneath a green light in the intersection: inspiration was the first thought crossing his "mind" the light has changed, go, oh wait he's dead, his mind will never decide pon anything again, strange he said mind because maybe that "mind" was supposed to make a decision that would allow further corruption to sink into governmental rule.. maybe he had no choice but to pass a certain law or be blackballed, or his family was being strong-armed, whatever the case I imagine the man finding his lucky way out, stating his unwillingness to concede to the authority by publicly emasculating his ability to choose wrong, simultaneously disarming the manipulation. Now, attacking his wife and children is redundant, pointless, a sacrifice of high class and honor. John wanted to highlight the last laugh. One, big, F you.. He probly smiled as he pulled the trigger. Supposedly, john knew this man so now, think about this!! If my inkling is even close to true, that is so damn funny, but sad, and furthermore illustrates the depth of thought he was capable of without effort.
eddie, atlanta, ga us

I always thought it was hoes.
Blackburnian, London Sweden

john was writting the song by taking bits and pieces from the news, when mentioning "he blew his mind out in a car" he was refering to a man who commited suicide in his car, "he hadnt noticed that the lights had changed" was refering to an accident, same page, where the operator told police he didnt notice the light changed, he turns the page and reads blackburn lankashire has 4000 pot holes thus the lyrics "4000 holes in blackburn lankashire" and the workers who complained that no matter how small the holes were they were told to count every last pot hole, therefore, "altho the holes were rather small, they had to count them all" turning to the next page he see's where the rolling stones had sold out royal albert hall and thought to himself "got to be an A**hole to listen to the rolling stones...and there are your lyrics "now they know how many holes it takes to fill the albert hall" ...this information was given durning a private interview with john lennon while the beatles were touring the united states, made a stop in nashville,there was stenographer present the reel to reel tape of the interview can not be found...but I have the stenographers copy and yes...it is signed by john lennon. will i sell it..no..will I give it away...to a museum...when they pry it from my cold dead hands...will I let someone see it....well as long as you don't touch it..it's in plastic and in my safe...to view it means you come here..and it takes about a thousand dollars to open my safe.
leo, nashville U.S.A

I was reading the news today and thought, Oh boy!! People are crazy!! All the wars, killing, hate.. It reminded me of the song. I thought that the holes in Albert Hall were probably ass.... knowing John's type of wit. I made a blog page this morning, first one being, "John Was Right" of his song "Imagine." Some world peace really needs "no religion." Gets rid of "religious wars." He had a leader mentality and having a follower mentality was foreign to him. So that easy answer just can't happen.
Tina, Philadelphia, Pa USA

Potholes in the roads may have been it, but I've wondered if it had anything to do with mine shafts. Maybe it was a double meaning.
Kit Hill, Bump City, California USA

Blackburn Council still have a dedicated 'Pothole' telephone line and many would say that there are still 4000 potholes in the town. The council has recently secured additional funding of £1m to repair the roads.
Blackburn Life, Blackburn United Kingdom

George Harrison told Dick Cavett on his show (was he joking?) in the early '70 that while waiting in a practice studio in Albert Hall, they (John?) counted the holes in an acoustical tile, and then counted the number of tiles and came up with the number 4000. Having spent many hours in practice studios I too have counted holes, so the story sounded true when I saw the show.
David Petty, Coral Springs, Florida U. S.

Songwriters have the same constraint as poets to use very few words. Poets already find it difficult to make much sense; at best they guide the sentiment along. But songwriters also need to wrap the cadence of the lyric around the structure of the music, constraining it even further. As a result it's almost impossible to really write lyrics that make sense, unless you have terribly blunt, awkward lyrics, which the Beatles didn't. So songwriters very often drop in phrases that really don't mean anything at all, knowing people will assume it does mean something. It's best not to figure it out, because if the meaning isn't obvious, it usually didn't mean anything in the first place, at least nothing beyond some vague notion the author figured would suffice to complete the phrase. If you want poetic lyrics that actually carry meaning, even tell a story, there's Dylan; otherwise go with the feeling and don't analyse too much.
David Bradley, Chicago USA

The pothole answer is right and sometimes you just got to scribble down some lyrics to make the song right even if it makes no sense lterally. There aint no one there for to give you no pain.
Phil Dixon, Asheville NC, US

Some say Paul died in 1964 and was replaced with a Canadian who had won a look alike competition earlier that year. His name was/is William Campbell. The song "a day in the life" refers to a car crash - that Paul was in? The driver was decapitated. There are lots of videos on YouTube about this.
Colin Proctor, Roehampton UK

John was proposing the answer to a riddle. How many holes does it take to fill anything? You can't fill anything with a hole! Much like the riddle "how much dirt is in a hole that is 1' x 1' x 1'? None! There's no dirt in a hole!
Creature, Westbrook, CT USA

I believe he was referring to an old pair of my underwear? Just saying. D. Blackburn
David, Mount Holly USA

Let's ask Ringo Starr!
Bretticus Max, Fredericton Canada

The "holes in Albert Hall" refers to the assholes of upper British Society who would attend stuffy concerts, long before Albert Hall permitted rock and pop events to be held there.
Ken, Wellesley USA

As a young Blackburn town centre resident growing up there in the 60s I think i can help to clear this matter up. Like many large towns in the 60s, Blackburn underwent a massive redevelopment program. 'Concrete Jungles' we'd call them now. Swathes of old property around the town, relics of Blackburn's industrial past, were demolished to make way for the new. Part of this was the creation of a large central market and shopping precinct in the town centre. This involved the creation of pedestrian subways under the busy Salford road intersection where the River Blakewater (where the town takes its name from) happened to flow. The river had to be diverted to enable this work on the subways, and as a result a very large access hole about 50 metres in diameter was made whilst all this work was going on. At first the townspeople were excited at the prospect of a brand new town centre but after a while, possibly a year or two, this hole which was literally in the exact centre of town became an eyesore, not to mention an obstruction, and people started to ask questions as to how much longer it would be there. The local newspaper The Lancashire Evening Telegraph (whose offices were facing the hole!) joined in and started to champion the cause to have the road returned to normal. Part of this involved The Telegraph speaking to the Local Authority, one of whose employees, possibly as an excuse, uttered the immortal words "there are 4000 holes in Blackburn", probably referring to all the routine potholes and excavations that were awaiting attention. The Evening Telegraph led with this story one evening, in fact I can picture their headline now. The National Press, always on the lookout for a good provincial story, picked up on it and it appeared in the very copy of the Daily Mirror that John Lennon had before him when he wrote " A Day in the Life". So there you have it, I was there!
David, Blackburn, Lancashire UK

I think that the holes in Albert Hall fill a desperate void caused by the need for something to rhyme with 'they had to count them all'.
Stephen Samuel, Vancouver,bc Canada

It's fun to peruse these things, there's no making something of nothing.
Tony Lovell, None UK

Thanks for all your interesting answers over the last 8 or 9 years.
Paul Elliott, Kendal Cumbria

Fascinating answers, some more tongue-in-cheek than others... This is my favourite Beatles song so I just had to comment! I'm quite convinced there's little or no esotericism here - just a glorious musical celebration of the banal and otherwise depressing nature of human existence, with irony aplenty but then doesn't this fit with the guys' 'we may have written the songs but we didn't create them, they were out there and we just happened to be the conduit they happened to find as an outlet'? Not an exact quote of course, but I'm sure it's well-enough known in more-or-less that form. Can we have a further discussion about the exact nature and origin of the latter?! I'm sure The Beatles, like Genesis, often had tunes to which they added 'guide vocals' which then became established as the 'natural' lyrics. As one contributor accurately notes, if you want straightforward and with a message, go Dylan (or Springsteen?)
Colin, Totton UK

Typical of Bob from Liverpool...taking a swipe at Blackburn. We do have many problems, but gun crime and gang related turf wars aren't endemic in our "hole". People in glass house's Bob!
Mick, Blackburn Lancashire

...yes, I take exception to the remark by 'Bob of Liverpool' about Blackburn being a 'hole'. It may not be a 'garden city', but there are worse places in which to live. BTW: the city has changed radically since my grandad's day (early 1900s), but I always enjoyed staying there with my aunt & cousins during my hols from Oxford U. Cheers!
Bill, College Park, Md USA

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