"Digging in the Dirt" | ||||
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Single by Peter Gabriel | ||||
from the album Us | ||||
B-side | "Quiet Steam" | |||
Released | 7 September 1992[1] | |||
Genre | Art rock [2] | |||
Length | 5:16 | |||
Label | Geffen | |||
Songwriter(s) | Peter Gabriel | |||
Producer(s) |
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Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
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"Digging in the Dirt" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel. It was released as the first single taken from his sixth studio album, Us, on 7 September 1992. The song was a minor hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 52, but it topped both the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and Album Rock Tracks charts. The song was moderately successful on the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 24, and it reached the top 10 in Canada, Portugal, and Sweden.
"Digging in the Dirt" began with some percussion tracks played by Hossam Ramzy that originated from "Zaar", a song on Gabriel's Passion album. Ramzy's surdo and duf tracks were then combined with a rhythm pattern from an Akai MPC60 and a synth bass played on a Roland D-50. Gabriel then ad-libbed some vocal parts, first coming up with the "shut your mouth" lyric, which was one of the song's working titles. [3] At other points of its development, the song was also temporarily known as "Plod". [4] Following the assembling of the rough demo, Gabriel traveled down to Daniel Lanois' Kingsway Studio in New Orleans, where overdubs of an Epiphone guitar played by Leo Nocentelli and a horn section were recorded, although the latter did not make the song's final mix. [3]
Gabriel stated that the lyrics to "Digging in the Dirt" were about examining his "darker side" and passive-aggressive behaviors. [5] He took inspiration from Why We Kill: Understanding Violence Across Cultures and Disciplines, a book that analyzes characteristics shared amongst murderers. [6] Some of the lyrics also reference the psychotherapy that Gabriel was receiving around the time. [4]
The Secret World Live version of the song features a chaotic blend of high-pitched distorted guitar (by guitarist David Rhodes) as well as occasional jarring synth bass stabs and an expansive performance on the drums. Gabriel wore a special helmet with a video camera attached, showing in great detail his facial expressions, while moving in time with the music. This is used to create what Q magazine described as an "unappetising" image of Gabriel, most prominent during the "freak-out" sequence in which the camera is pointed down Gabriel's throat, nostrils, and earlobes. [7] The song was later performed on Gabriel's 2002 Growing Up Tour and appeared on its accompanying live concert film. [8] [9]
Gabriel revisited the song for his New Blood album, which featured orchestral rearrangements of Gabriel's music catalog. [10] Due to difficulties in tackling the song's rhythmic elements without bass and drums, the song was nearly dropped from the album, but Gabriel avoided this by working extensively with the woodwind players to achieve a satisfactory groove. [10] Gabriel also performed the song on his 2014 Back to Front Tour and his I/O Tour in 2023, with a live version from the former tour also appearing on his Back to Front: Live in London album. [11] [12]
The music video for the single was directed by John Downer and utilised stop motion animation, a technique used in the videos for Gabriel's earlier hits " Sledgehammer" and " Big Time". The work was painstaking, especially for Gabriel himself who was required to lie still for hours at a time over the course of several days. [4]
According to Gabriel, "the meadow of flowers from the final scenes of the "Digging in the Dirt" video were filmed at the edge of the carpark at Real World Studios." [13] The video is largely an exploration of the issues in his personal life at the time, the end of his relationship with Rosanna Arquette, his desire to reconnect with his daughter and the self-healing he was looking for in therapy. [4]
Gabriel returned to stop motion and claymation that were previously used on some of Gabriel's So era singles in the mid 1980s, forgoing the computer graphics used in " Steam". In the video, Gabriel is displayed in a variety of disturbing imagery, including being buried alive, consumed by an overgrowth of foliage (thanks to the stop-motion process) and flying into a rage while trying to swat a wasp. [4] Gabriel stated that he wanted the video to encapsulate the feeling of anger, but was uncomfortable depicting violence toward women, so the rage was instead directed at the wasp. [5] Francesca Gonshaw depicted the woman in the video. [4]
Initially, the word "DIG" forms in the grass while dark imagery plays. Gabriel morphs into a skeleton while trying to excavate himself. Ultimately, the mushrooms sprout to form the word "HELP," followed by "HEAL" in blooming flowers after Gabriel has emerged from underground, now clad in white. In 1993, the video won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. [4]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
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1992 | Grammy Award [14] | Best Male Rock Vocal Performance | Nominated |
Best Rock Song | Nominated | ||
Best Music Video | Won | ||
1993 | MTV Video Music Awards | Video of the Year | Nominated |
Viewer's Choice Award | Nominated | ||
International Viewer's Choice Award for MTV Europe | Nominated |
All songs were written by Peter Gabriel.
CD maxi
7-inch single
Additional musicians
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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