"Hole in My Pocket" is a song co-written by Boudleaux and

Felice Bryant Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto; August 7, 1925 – April 22, 2003) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (; February 13, 1920 – June 25, 1987) were an American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They were be ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Ricky Van Shelton Ricky Van Shelton (born January 12, 1952) is an American retired country music singer. Active between 1986 and 2006, he charted more than 20 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. This figure includes 10 Number One hits: "Somebod ...

. It was released in March 1989, as the third single from his album '' Loving Proof''. The song reached number 4 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart and became a number 1 hit in Canada. Shelton's version was an updated rendition of the original recording by

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

artist

Little Jimmy Dickens James Cecil Dickens (December 19, 1920 – January 2, 2015), better known by his stage name Little Jimmy Dickens, was an American country music singer and songwriter famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size (4'10" 50 cm, and hi ...

, recorded in Nashville on April 16, 1958 with a small group of Nashville session players including guitarists

Grady Martin Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001) was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly. A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' "El Paso", Loretta Lynn's " Coal M ...

and

Harold Bradley Harold Bradley may refer to: Others * Harold Bradley (guitarist) (1926–2019), American country and pop guitarist * Harold Bradley (pianist) (1906–1984), Canadian pianist * Harold Bradley (trade unionist) (1895–1979), British trade union leade ...

. Though Dickens was known for his earthy hard country songs, this one was a hard rocker in the

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

mode. While the Dickens version was not a hit, Shelton's recording, despite some modern touches, closely followed the 1958 arrangement.

Content

The narrator has a hole in his pocket so all his money is gone and he can't buy his girlfriend anything.

Chart performance

"Hole in My Pocket" reached number 4 on the ''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart and number 1 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Country Tracks chart.

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hole In My Pocket 1989 singles 1958 songs Little Jimmy Dickens songs Ricky Van Shelton songs Songs written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant Song recordings produced by Steve Buckingham (record producer) Columbia Nashville Records singles