Holes – English Lyrics

• By: Passenger
• Album: All The Little Lights - Anniversary Edition

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music is a powerful tool, and Passenger's "Holes" offers a poignant and accessible entry point into English. The song's clear storytelling and repetitive, anthemic chorus make it easy to follow and sing along to. Through its simple yet profound lyrics, you can learn vocabulary related to overcoming adversity and the universal human experience of resilience. What makes this song special is its raw honesty and the uplifting message that emerges from stories of loss, reminding us that even with "holes" in our lives, we can carry on.

[English]

I know a man with nothing in his hands, nothing but a rolling stone

He told me about when his house burnt down,

And he lost everything he owned

He lay asleep for six whole weeks,

They were gonna ask his mother to choose

When he woke up with nothing he said I'll tell you something

When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose

Now I've got a hole in my pocket, a hole in my shirt,

A whole lot of trouble, he said

But now the money is gone,

Life carries on and I miss it like a hole in the head

I know a woman with kids around her ankles and a baby on her lap

She said one day her husband went to get a paper

And the motherfucker never came back

Mortgage to pay and four kids to raise,

But keeping the wolf from the door

She said the wolf's just a puppy and the door's double locked

So why you gotta worry me for

Now he left a in hole in my heart a hole in a promise a hole on the side of my bed

Oh now that he's gone well life carries on

And I miss him like a hole in the head

Well sometimes you can't change and you can't choose

And sometimes it seems you gain less than you lose

Now we've got holes in our hearts, yeah we've got holes in our lives

Where we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

Where we've got holes in our hearts, yeah we've got holes in our lives

Where we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

Said we've got holes in our hearts, yeah we've got holes in our lives

Where we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

Said we've got holes in our hearts, we've got holes in our lives

We've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

Said we've got holes in our hearts, we've got holes in our lives

We've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

Said we've got holes in our hearts, yeah we've got holes in our lives

Where we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

Now we've got holes in our hearts, yeah we've got holes in our lives

Where we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
hole /hoʊl/ A1	noun - an opening through something
man /mæn/ A1	noun - an adult male human being
house /haʊs/ A1	noun - a building for human habitation
lose /luːz/ A1	verb - to be deprived of something
mother /ˈmʌðər/ A1	noun - a female parent
pocket /ˈpɒkɪt/ A2	noun - a small bag sewn into or on clothing
shirt /ʃɜːrt/ A2	noun - a cloth garment for the upper body
money /ˈmʌni/ A1	noun - a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter
head /hed/ A1	noun - the part of the body above the neck
woman /ˈwʊmən/ A1	noun - an adult female human being
kids /kɪdz/ A1	noun - children
husband /ˈhʌzbənd/ A2	noun - a married man
mortgage /ˈmɔːrɡɪdʒ/ B2	noun - an agreement that allows you to borrow money from a bank
heart /hɑːrt/ A1	noun - a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood
promise /ˈprɒmɪs/ A2	noun - a declaration assuring that one will do something verb - assure someone that one will definitely do something
lives /laɪvz/ A1	noun - plural of life

Key Grammar Structures

• When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose

  ➔ present perfect tense with 'have got'

  ➔ This structure expresses possession or condition that has relevance to the present.

• Life carries on

  ➔ present simple tense for general truths or ongoing states

  ➔ The present simple tense describes routines, facts, or ongoing truths.

• And he lost everything he owned

  ➔ past simple tense with 'lost' to express completed actions

  ➔ 'Lost' is in past tense, indicating an action completed in the past.

• They were gonna ask his mother to choose

  ➔ informal future intention using 'gonna' (going to)

  ➔ 'Gonna' is a colloquial contraction of 'going to', used to express future plans or intentions informally.

• where we've got holes, we've got holes but we carry on

  ➔ present perfect tense with 'have got' to indicate possession or condition

  ➔ The structure 'have got' expresses possession or current state/status.

• Said we've got holes in our hearts

  ➔ past simple tense with 'said' to report speech or sentiment

  ➔ 'Said' is the past tense of 'say', used here to report speech indirectly.

• We've got holes in our lives

  ➔ present perfect tense with 'have got' for possession or state

  ➔ This construction indicates ongoing possession or the current condition of 'holes' in life.