'Digging Holes' by Cameron Whitcomb – Lyrics & Meaning

Much of Cameron Whitcomb's music feels autobiographical, the rising alt-folk hitmaker never afraid to put to song exactly what he's been through and what he's still enduring today.

Because of this, his official debut album, The Hard Way, is a record of all of his highs and lows, trials and triumphs, each song like a page ripped from the book of his young adult life.

'Digging Holes', especially, feels the most telling among the collection's 15 tracks, the trembling number recounting years spent striving for more only to end up back at rock bottom time and again.

'Digging Holes' doesn't merely begin, it awakens. Careful strings, expelling dust and hard memories with each delicate pluck, rattle the tune to life, framing the entire song from start to finish.

By the chorus, silvery strums, quivering steel and a pillowing beat join in, fleshing out the stark arrangement and transforming the song into a sweeping and swelling epic of self-destruction and hard-earned redemption.

"I left home just to follow my feet
Had a rough couple years
And I had to retreat
‘Cause I was seventeen with too much to prove
But it’s hard to grow up when there’s rot in your roots
I ain’t six feet deep, but I’m getting real close
And I just can’t leave, oh"

Throughout 'Digging Holes', Cameron Whitcomb alludes to a rocky past, perhaps a difficult upbringing or a less than ideal childhood.

It's something that seems to plague him in his young adult life, the song recounting years spent striving for more, leaving home and chasing big dreams, only to have his past catch up with him time and again.

No matter where he goes, or how hard he tries to escape the "rot in his roots", it's no use. He always finds himself back at rock bottom.

"My face feels heavy
And my heart is broke
I’ve been waiting on dead trees to grow
This much rain will make ya pray for snow
And I hate rock bottom, but I’m good at digging holes
Digging holes
Digging holes"

The song seems to paint the artist's self-destructive nature or his tendency to self-sabotage the moment the sun begins to eek through the darkness. He doesn't like feeling down-trodden or out of control, but that's the only life he knows, singing "I hate rock bottom, but I’m good at digging holes."

He's been down so long that the climb to the surface, the ascent to better things and a brighter life, feels almost impossible and, in the end, more difficult that simply lying down in the chasm he's already dug.

He's still trying, though, working every moment toward a better life, and at the end of the day, that's all we can do.

"My face feels heavy
And I sold my soul
To make another payment on my own headstone
Damn this shovel ‘cause I can’t let go
And I hate rock bottom, but I’m good at digging holes
Digging holes"

I left home just to follow my feet
Had a rough couple years
And I had to retreat
‘Cause I was seventeen with too much to prove
But it’s hard to grow up when there’s rot in your roots
I ain’t six feet deep, but I’m getting real close
And I just can’t leave, oh

My face feels heavy
And my heart is broke
I’ve been waiting on dead trees to grow
This much rain will make ya pray for snow
And I hate rock bottom, but I’m good at digging holes
Digging holes
Digging holes

And I met a girl with a lot of ideas
She had a couple dollars, and I had a Cavalier
And we drove all night ‘til that motor was gone
Only made it halfway to Saskatchewan
Now I smoke through lunch, and she still gets high
When you’re this far down, it’s a real tough climb

My face feels heavy
And my heart is broke
I’ve been waiting on dead trees to grow
This much rain will make ya pray for snow
And I hate rock bottom, but I’m good at digging holes
Digging holes
Oh, digging holes
Oh, digging holes
Oh, digging holes
Digging holes

My face feels heavy
And I sold my soul
To make another payment on my own headstone
Damn this shovel ‘cause I can’t let go
And I hate rock bottom, but I’m good at digging holes
Digging holes
Oh, digging holes
No, no, no, digging holes
Digging holes
Oh, I hate rock bottom, but I’m good at digging holes

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For more on Cameron Whitcomb, see below:

Cameron Whitcomb

Artist