I don't think anyone knows, for certain. I suggest that the Albert Hall reference is a fairly straightforward and intentional conceptual paradox; from my understanding, anyone that has been to the Albert Hall will have marveled 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. This kind of inspired wordplay was typical of Lennon, who reveled in the absurd. Unfortunately, listeners have too often tried to read meaning into that which was never intended as more than wry punning. A 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 Mysticism and The Maharishi. 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").

Um, the seating capacity in the Albert Hall is upward of 3900 so it probably refers to the previous line '4000 holes in blackburn, lancashire and though the holes were small they had to count them all, now they know....'

G'day Anonymous, Thank you for your question. The genesis of A Day In The Life was John Lennon reading the Daily Mail and two stories catching his eye. The first was about Tara Browne who committed suicide. The second was about plans to fill 4,000 potholes in Blackburn, Lancashire. According to the Strawberry Walrus, John Lennon said this about the song. "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." The Royal Albert Hall is a popular concert venue in London and often used as a basis for comparisons. The Beatles repeated the line in the movie Yellow Submarine. When Jeremy Hilary Boob asks how many holes in the Sea of Holes, the answer is enough to fill the Albert Hall. I have attached sources for your reference. Regards Wikipedia A Day in the Life http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Day_in_the_Life#Inspiration_from_a_newspaper BBC Sold on Song http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/adayinthelife.shtml Wikipedia Royal Albert Hall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall Strawberry Walrus http://www.strawberrywalrus.com/dayinlife.html

Hi, I'm fairly certain the Beatles meant assholes when they wrote/sang "now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". Don

It's my understanding that John Lennon was making an obscure reference to Bob Dylan's 1966 Albert Hall concerts [May 26 and 27,1966] in which fans "boohed" Dylan for "going electric" [using electronic amplification]. In that case 'holes' would refer to the disgruntled fans in a derogatory sense.

I always took it as a double reference to an obvious paradox and to the vacuous people that often fill the seats at concert halls.