"Digging in the Dirt" began with some percussion tracks played by Hossam Ramzy that originated from "Zaar", a song on Gabriel's Passion album.

[4] The original tracking of the song was conducted in the Work Room of Real World Studios with David Rhodes and Daniel Lanois playing Steinberger and Fender Telecaster guitars respectively.

Tony Levin played a Music Man bass guitar connected to a Trace Elliot amplifier and his signal was sent downstairs to a speaker in Studio 1.

David Bottrill, who served as the producer for these sessions, recalled that snares were placed on the Burundi drum, which was miked with Shure SM57 microphones on both the top and bottom drumhead.

[7] The backing vocalists, which also included Ayub Ogada and Peter Hammill in addition to Gabriel and Macphail, recorded their parts using a Neumann U 47; the four of them dubbed themselves "the Everlys" due to the vocal harmonies they achieved through multitracking.

Levin redid his parts on a Status bass and Katché eschewed his percussion kit in favor of a Yamaha drum set with small splash cymbals, which replaced the hi-hat in his configuration.

In its 17 October 1992 edition of the Hot 100, Billboard noted that the song had failed to make a major impact on the chart, where it stalled at number 78 for the second consecutive week.

[7] Upon release, "Digging in the Dirt" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune labeling the song as "excellent".

[14] In a mixed review for Us David Browne of Entertainment Weekly was favorable toward the chorus of "Digging in the Dirt", although he predicted that the special effects found in the music video would have more of a lasting legacy than the song itself.

"[17] 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.

"[24] 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.

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.