What were the "four thousand holes in Blackburn Lancashire" referred to in the Beatles song "A Day in the Life"? | Notes and Queries (2023)

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

Paul Elliott, Kendal Cumbria

• I think the answer is pretty prosaic. John Lennon's inspiration for the lyrics came in part from reading a newspaper. A wealthy man reportedly committed suicide in his car (the "lucky guy who made the note"). Another column mentioned the state of road repairs in Blackburn, where, to the shock and horror of readers, there were 4,000 potholes. Many of John Lennon's compositions were pythonic even before the Beatles' famous acid experiments, so please don't think this is some kind of drug-induced insight or eternal truth.

  Simon Gilman, London

• It all ties into that line, "I read the news today oh boy." In the same newspaper with the details of the car accident, Lennon saw on the facing page an article about the results of a Blackburn's Council survey which concluded that there were over 4,000 potholes in the roads.

  Neil McLoram, United Kingdom

• A newspaper article that John Lennon came across by accident.

  Robert del Valle, Detroit USA

• It was John Lennon's idea to write this song by combining ideas from newspapers. He and Paul went through the January 17th Dail Mail. 1967 and his eyes drew attention to the following short article: “There are 4,000 potholes 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 potholes in The Roads of Great Britain and 300,000 in London.” There was no connection between this and any other article on the Albert Hall; it was just her imagination making the connection.

  Terence Hollingworth, Blagnac, France

• The line was inspired by a newspaper report that John Lennon read claiming that there were 4,000 potholes in the streets of Blackburn.

  Philip Howell, Birmingham UK

• I heard this line came from a newspaper. It was part of a story describing how Blackburn City Council had sent someone to identify all the potholes in the city's streets. They did, but the report cost so much that they couldn't afford to fix any of them after identifying all the holes.

  John, Maidenhead United Kingdom

• The best opening paragraph of a sports report I have ever read was written over 20 years ago by Randall Butt, football writer for the Cambridge Evening News. Cambridge United were beaten by Blackburn Rovers in a Division Two game. Butt's world-weary introduction read: "Four thousand holes at Blackburn, Lancashire and most of them were in the Cambridge United defense..."

  HowardRose, Dublin

• When I was young, popular folklore said that "4,000 holes" was 4,000 drug smokers.

  Nigel, London

• While the answers above offer an explanation for the origin of the 4,000 holes, none explain how this relates to the Albert Hall. I believe this is the essential missing piece of this mystery in Lennon's mind. Another popular cult belief is that a "hole" refers to an entity of decaying flesh as described in the "Tibetan Book of the Dead." Lennon was then influenced by Eastern mysticism and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The reference, according to cult belief, is that Lennon mocked the wealthy folk who attended concerts at the Albert Hall (calling them "rotting flesh").

  M. Weinberg, Kissimmee EUA

• According to the previous correspondent's response, A Day In The Life was actually the first song recorded for Sgt Pepper five months before the album's release. John Lennon only began following the Maharishi's teachings this summer. I propose that the reference to Albert Hall is a fairly simple and deliberate conceptual paradox; Anyone who has been to the Albert Hall will be amazed at how much space there is. To ask how many holes would fill that space is inherently absurd and therefore interesting in its own right. In the context of the Blackburn road problem, it puts an interesting twist on an ordinary, everyday newspaper article. This kind of inspired wordplay was typical of Lennon, who loved the absurd. Unfortunately, listeners have often attempted to understand the meaning of what was never intended to be more than a tongue-in-cheek pun (you may also be wondering why John was the walrus when all Beatles fans know "that walrus was Paul". Oh , and the person who knocked her out in a car was Tara Browne, the heiress to the Guinness estate, who was a close friend of the Beatles and died in a car accident in 1966.

  Max Wurr, Stanmore Middlesex

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• This line is a fantastic example of John Lennon's songwriting and sense of humor. However, I would like to say that "When I'm Sixty-Four" was actually the first song recorded on the album. On December 6, 1966, Sgt. Pepper started recording with this song. Recording sessions for "A Day in the Life" did not begin until January 19, 1967, but true to his claims, it predates the Beatles' interest in Eastern religion.

  Andrew, Peterborough, Kanada

• In fact, it was a direct quote from a recently discovered obscure Scottish bard: "For thou art an old sin, black child, slender."

  Jim, London, UK

• I suspect John would laugh if he could somehow read that argument today. When he was alive, however, he said: "I wrote the song with the Daily Mail leaning on the piano in front of me, I opened it up to News In Brief or Far and Near, whatever they call it. There was a paragraph about 4,000 holes being uncovered at Blackburn, Lancaster, and when we got to the recording there was a word missing from that verse. I knew the line had to be, 'Now you know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall. ' It was actually a nonsensical line, 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 these lyrics were used in the production of "Sgt. Pepper" intentionally misspelled. The "holes" are actually "wholes," a 1960's psychological term for emotionally intact individuals who have reached full maturity in their social and spiritual development. they appear, of course, en masse in the Royal Albert Hall for entertainment befitting their particular profusion. Research at the time indicated that Blackburn was home to 4,000 self-actualizing people – the ideal demographic for RAH fares.

  Steve MacDonald, Kansas City, EUA

• I think you are correct in referring to the silly newspaper stories where councilors go and find useless information (if someone writes a song about the cost of replacing the M6 ​​- I remember the board asked someone , who was a few years ago!). As for the Albert Hall connection, it could all be linked to the Beatles' hometown and Lancashire, both to Albert Halls - 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 4,000 holes relate to children killed and buried at Blackburn.

  John, Coventry Inglaterra

• Blackburn is just a BIG hole anyway.

  Bob, Liverpool, Merseyside

• I believe the 4,000 holes was the story of the hole in the newspaper. But - I often remember hearing the phrase "now you know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall" as a blow to critics' claims that the Stones were more popular than the Beatles, because they sold more tickets at their Alberthalle concert. It's nice to think that this is a smack at the critics. It's like saying, "Who cares how many tickets we sell against them or anyone? We're the Beatles!"

  Shacky, Rochester USA

• Wikipedia says that the line "Now you know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall" can be explained by the fact that Blackburn, Lancashire had one hole for every 26 inhabitants. While the Royal Albert Hall seats about 8,000 people, it would take about 308 holes to fill it. Because of course there are 26 people for each hole... And I always thought the queue was about jerks! The whole story is so funny I think, especially with the additional information from John in Maidenhead, UK! The Beatles rule and Paul lives! ... 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 over Albert Hall. He tries to ask why the hell someone had to count all the holes and what was the use. He just tells us that there was no point.

  Nick, Lubbock, EUA

• "Bums in seat" is the British version of the American promoters' goal of selling out concert halls; It would be funny, in Lennon fashion, to overcome the insignificance of the holes counted by the number of seats occupied - albeit quite small - at the 1963 Stones/Beatles concert at the Albert Hall, whose attendances were similar to those counted in Lancashire were street officers.

  Ken, Cleveland, USA

• Everyone looks so far into the strange obscure. Lennon was a pervert. 4,000 holes refers to vaginas and how many of the teenage variety could fit in an Albert Hall venue, say a Beatles concert perhaps? This topic is nonsense. Lennon would have liked it.

  Jeremy Meserve, Watertown, Massachusetts, EUA

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• The English army just won the war...that was the day before the ad he read and now they say I read the news today...4000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire the holes were pretty small , they had to count them all... these holes are graves for soldiers who fell in the english war... now you know how many graves it takes to fill the albert hall...

  Jorge Rodriguez, Monterrey Mexico

• It wasn't the number of holes: drinking holes? I.e. pubs? At the time, Blackburn was a large industrial town and most workers ended their days in the pub. There's a pub on every corner so 4000 pubs in Blackburn is VERY possible.

  Andrew Donelan, Blackburn, Lancashire

• As Paul, George and Ringo explained on VH1 Classics' special "Beatles Anthology" this week, the holes were related to a newspaper report John and Paul made around the time of the recording of "St. Pepper” had seen. The Holes at Blackburn, Lancashire. The reference to Albert Hall was also a story they read in the same newspaper. It's more likely that all of the music in this diary was written, especially since it says "I read the news today, o-boy"... The rest of the song is history and has made history.

  RA McGhin, Lakeland, USA

• Another question. Was it suicide or an accident? "He exploded in a car" sounds like suicide, but "He hadn't noticed the lights changed" sounds like an accident.

  Tony Chamberlain, Naperville, EUA

• I really enjoyed reading all the answers. I now believe in the hole-in-the-pan theory. But I always thought it was a reference for injecting drug users, ie; I have always believed and still believe that the holes to fill the Albert Hall is a love/hate term for others... "hole" good or bad. As George Carlin pointed out, his belongings and belongings are "his stuff" while others' property is just "their shit". If that makes any sense... if not, blame the holes... just kidding. Maybe, just maybe, we're missing the obvious: Hey, hey, hey... It's Fat Albert!

  Jeff Solomon/Downz, Spokane, USA

• These lyrics have a special meaning to me, I used to sing them to my late father to annoy him as they were from Blackburn!

  Sally Brotherton, Crewe, Cheshire

• Many years ago, while turning on my car radio on the way home from work in Toledo, Ohio, I was surprised to hear what sounded like a mention of the town of Lancashire, which I had left in 1956 to seek greener pastures. I recognized the Beatles but had never heard that particular song before. And the reference to the 4,000 holes intrigued me even more. A visit to the local record store confirmed the clue, but I've waited and wondered until now (April 2010) to discover the probable explanation for these wonderfully surrealistic lines. I'll sleep better tonight thanks to your very smart contributors!

  Frank Ward, Toledo, USA

• I've been listening to this song for over forty years and I always thought it was just a way of saying, "Now you know how many 'idiots' it takes to fill the Albert Hall". Normal max capacity is 3929 so it makes sense to me. A submission for any reason.

  TS-Deal, Moorestown, USA

• So many bizarre and idiotic assumptions. Lennon was jealous of the Stones - of course he would never admit it! The Stones filled the Albert Hall and the "holes" were obviously jerks. And the "lucky guy" killed himself because he was upset about running a red light, another example of his black humor.

  Gordon, Medford, USA

• I always thought the term also applied to the search for missing children.

  Begleiter, NYC, USA

• In England, the Albert Hall is used to denote a large room, as in "You couldn't fit this guy's belly in the Albert Hall". John Lennon was just joking. A hole is empty space, so how do you know how many it takes to fill the Albert Hall? He was just joking about bureaucracy.

  Two Beatles lovers, London UK

• LOL... I can't believe your answers! It's easy. Paul McCartney explained what holes are. She was referring to 4,000 screaming girls who filled the Albert Hall for a concert. Paul said there were only two dirty references in his songs...one was and the other was Penny Lane, "full of fish and pies". The secret is over.

  Anna, Hollywood, USA

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• Just two "dirty lines" in The Beatles' entire work? Not God! "Back in the USSR" is full of sexual innuendos: "...show me the snowy mountains to the south // take me to your father's farm // let me hear your balalaikas // c'mon and keep your heat mate // I'm back in the USSR... Oh, let me tell you darling" is a thinly veiled, deliciously exchanged description of violent intercourse.

  Robret Stuart, Wilbraham, Massachusetts EUA

• "He exploded in a car..." I doubt this is a suicide. If it were, John would have used "brain" or "head." A spirit describes a person's intellect or consciousness, not the physical. So the line in the song is more related to something like "Wow, that blew my mind..."

  Reginald, Bird-in-Hand, PA EUA

• Happy man who graduated. beginning of prank I had to laugh; I saw the photo: he exploded in a car; He didn't realize the lights had changed: end of game.. a crowd looked on, unsure of his position as lord.. that just adds a layer of humor, anyone see the visual shock effect here? What's so funny about a dead guy with his face all over the car. The fact that he couldn't see the lights? His eyes are on the ceiling. People are honking their horns and wondering why this idiot won't leave, imagine the photo John saw showing the gory scene displayed under a green light at the intersection: Inspiration was the first thought that came to him through his head a light changed go oh wait he's dead his mind will never decide anything again strange he said mind because maybe that 'mind' should make a decision that more corruption in the government would allow...maybe he had had no choice but to pass a certain law or be banished or his family heavily armed, whatever the case, I imagine the man was lucky finds, declares his reluctance to publicly bow to authority, castrates his ability to choose wrongly, while disarming manipulation. Now the attack on your wife and children is unnecessary, meaningless, a sacrifice of class and honor. John wanted to highlight the last laugh. One, big, for you... He was probably smiling as he pulled the trigger. Apparently John knew this man so think about it now!! If my suspicions are close to the truth, this is so funny yet sad, and also shows what depth of thought he was effortlessly capable of.

  Eddie, Atlanta, ga us

• I always thought they were hoes.

  Blackburnian, London, Sweden

• john wrote the song with snippets of the news, when he mentioned "he exploded in a car", he was referring to a man who committed suicide in his car, "he didn't know the lights had changed" was referring to an accident , same page where the operator told the police he hadn't noticed the changed sign, he turns the page and it says Blackburn, Lankashire has 4000 holes hence the letter "4000 holes in Blackburn, Lankashire" and the Workers who complained that no matter how small the holes were, they were told to count to the last hole, so "even though the holes were pretty small, they had to count them all," looking at the next page, he sees , where the rolling stones have exhausted Royal Albert Hall, and thought to himself "it must be an idiot to listen to the Rolling Stones... and there are their lyrics" now they know how many holes it takes to get the to fill Albert Hall" ... this one Information was given during a private interview with John Lennon enq When the Beatles were on tour I was in the States, I had a layover in Nashville there was a stenographer present. The tape of the interview cannot be found...but I have the stenographer's copy and yes...it's signed by John Lennon. I'll sell it...no...I'll donate it...to a museum...if they snatch it from my cold dead hands...I'll show it to someone...well, as long as you don't touches it... it's plastic and it's in my safe... to see it means you come here... and it costs about a thousand dollars to open my safe.

  Lion, Nashville USA

• I read the news today and thought Wow!! people are crazy!! All the wars, the killing, the hate... It reminded me of the song. I thought the Albert Hall holes were probably stupid... knowing John's brand of humor. I created a blog page this morning, the first was "John Was Right" from his song "Imagine". Some world peace really needs "no religion". Get rid of "religious wars". He had a leader mentality and a follower mentality was alien to him. So this simple answer cannot happen.

  Tina, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

• It could have been potholes in the roads, but I wondered if that had anything to do with mine shafts. Maybe it was an ambiguity.

  Kit Hill, Bump City, Kalifornien USA

• Blackburn Council even has a dedicated 'pothole' phone line and many would say there are still 4,000 potholes in the city. The council recently secured an extra £1million for road repairs.

  Blackburn Life, Blackburn UK

• George Harrison told Dick Cavett on his show (was that a joke?) in the early 1970s that while they waited in an Albert Hall practice studio, they (John?) counted the holes in an acoustic tile and then the number of Counting tiles and I got the number 4000. After spending many hours in practice studios, I also counted holes, so the story ringed true when I saw the show.

  David Petty, Coral Springs, Florida, USA

• Composers have the same limitation as poets of using very few words. Poets already find it difficult to make much sense; at best they direct the feeling. But songwriters also need to wrap the lyrical cadence around the song's structure to further narrow it down. As a result, it's almost impossible to write lyrics that make sense unless you have terribly blunt and awkward lyrics, which the Beatles didn't have. As a result, songwriters often use phrases that don't actually mean anything because they know people will assume they mean something. It's best not to find out because unless the meaning is obvious, it usually means nothing at all, at least no more than a vague idea that the author was enough to complete the sentence. If you want poetic lyrics that really mean something, even tell a story, then there's Dylan; Otherwise, go with the feeling and don't analyze too much.

  David Bradley, Chicago USA

• The whole answer is correct and sometimes you just have to scribble a few lyrics to get the song right, even if it literally doesn't make sense. There is no one who does not cause you pain.

  Phil Dixon, Asheville NC, EUA

• Some say Paul died in 1964 and was replaced by a Canadian who had won a similar competition earlier that year. His name was/is William Campbell. The song "a day in the life" refers to a car accident - what was Paul stuck in? The driver was beheaded. There are many videos on YouTube about this.

  Colin Proctor, Roehampton UK

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• John suggested the answer to a riddle. How many holes does it take to fill something? You can't fill anything with a hole! Similar to the riddle How much dirt is in a 1' x 1' x 1' hole? none! There's no dirt in a hole!

  Kreatur, Westbrook, CT USA

• I think he was referring to an old pair of my knickers? Just say. D Blackburn

  David, Mount Holly USA

• Let's ask Ringo Starr!

  Bretticus Max, Fredericton, Kanada

• The "Holes in the Albert Hall" refers to the idiots of British high society who attended boring concerts long before the Albert Hall allowed rock and pop events there.

  Ken, Wellesley USA

• As a young resident of Blackburn town center growing up in the 1960's I think I can help shed some light on this matter. Like many major cities in the 1960s, Blackburn underwent a massive program of redevelopment. We would now call them “concrete jungles”. Strips of old buildings around the town, relics of Blackburn's industrial past, have been demolished to make way for the new. Part of this was the creation of a large central market and shopping district in the center of the city. These included the creation of pedestrian tubes under the busy junction of Salford Road, where the River Blakewater (from which the town takes its name) flowed. The river had to be diverted to allow these works in the underground and as a result a very large access hole, about 50 meters in diameter, was made during all these works. At first, the townspeople were excited by the prospect of a new city center, but after a while, maybe a year or two, this hole, which was literally right in the center of the city, became an eyesore, not to mention an obstacle, and People started asking questions about how long he would stay there. Local newspaper The Lancashire Evening Telegraph (whose offices faced the loch!) joined in and began campaigning for the road to be returned to normal. Part of this involved The Telegraph speaking to the local authority, from whose officials, possibly as an apology, uttered the immortal words "there are 4,000 holes in Blackburn," presumably referring to all the holes and routine digging done at waiting for attention. The Evening Telegraph ran this story one night, in fact I can imagine the headline now. The National Press, always in search of a good provincial story, picked it up and it appeared in the same issue 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 the holes in Albert Hall fill a desperate void created by the need to make sense of "they had to count them all".

  Stephen Samuel, Vancouver, BC, Kanada

• It's fun to go through these things, there's no way to make something out of nothing.

  Tony Lovell, None UK

• Thank you for all your interesting replies over the last 8 or 9 years.

  Paul Elliott, Kendal Cumbria

• Fascinating responses, some more tongue-in-cheek than others... This is my favorite Beatles song so I just had to comment! I'm pretty sure there's little to no esotericism here - just a glorious musical celebration of the mundane and depressing nature of human existence, ironically, but that doesn't suit the boys." "We might have written the songs, but We didn't create us, they were out there and we were just the conduit they found as an outlet'? It's not an exact quote, of course, but I'm sure it's known in more or less that form. Can we have a further discussion on the exact nature and origin of the latter?! I'm sure the Beatles, like Genesis, often had songs to which they added "lead vocals" which then became the "natural" lyrics. As one reviewer rightly pointed out, if you want something direct and with a message, go for Dylan (or Springsteen?)

  Colin, Totton United Kingdom

• Typical Bob from Liverpool... Beat Blackburn. We have many problems, but gun crime and gang-related turf wars are not endemic to our "hole." People in the glass house Bob!

  Mick, Blackburn, Lancashire

• ...yes, I agree with 'Bob of Liverpool' comment that Blackburn is a 'hole'. It's not a garden city, but there are worse places to live. BTW: the city has changed radically since my grandfather's time (early 20th century) but I've always enjoyed staying there with my aunt and cousins ​​during my holidays in Oxford U. Bottom up!

  Bill, College Park, Md. USA