"The Hole" is the title of a song written by Skip Ewing

Skip Ewing

Donald Ralph "Skip" Ewing is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since 1988, Ewing has recorded nine studio albums, and has charted fifteen singles on the Billboard country charts.-Career:...

 and James Dean Hicks, and recorded by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Randy Travis

Randy Travis

Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...

. It was released in June 1998 as the second single from his 1998 album You and You Alone

You and You Alone

You and You Alone is the tenth studio album by American country music artist Randy Travis. His first album for DreamWorks Records Nashville, it produced four singles on the Billboard country music charts between 1998 and 1999: "Out of My Bones", "The Hole", "Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man", and...

, it peaked at #4 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

) chart, and #4 in Canada.

Background

Co-producer James Stroud

James Stroud

James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, and country music. In the 1990s he was the president of Giant Records and held several credits as a session drummer...

 told Billboard Magazine that when Randy went to sing the song for the first time in front of a room full of Nashville players, "his voice just filled the room. And when we stopped, these great professional musicians stood up and gave him a standing ovation. I have never seen that done in this town before. Never."

Content

"The Hole" is a song describing a man who is burdened by his sins, which are compared to a hole in the ground. He is described as digging the hole deeper in a futile attempt to get out: "Now he won't let go of the shovel, and he can't dig out of the hole."

Music video

The music video was directed by Joe Murray, who also directed Randy Travis's previous video "Out of My Bones

Out of My Bones

"Out of My Bones" is the title of a song recorded by American country music singer Randy Travis. It was released in March 1998 as the lead-off single from his 1998 CD, You and You Alone, it peaked at number two on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, while it was a number-one hit in Canada...

". It reached #1 on the CMT Top 12 Countdown.

Chart performance

"The Hole" debuted at number 72 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of June 13, 1998.

Chart (1998)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot Country Singles & Tracks	9
U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100	105
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	4