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Can You Dig It? (The Mock Turtles song)

single by The Mock Turtles

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ5029099 ↗
Source-derived summary

"Can You Dig It?" is a song by English indie rock band the Mock Turtles, released as a single in 1991 from their debut album, Turtle Soup (1990). The song was originally the B-side to the single "Lay Me Down". It was released on Siren Records in all formats except for one of the seven-inch singles released in Europe where it was released by Virgin Records.

"Can You Dig It?" reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and number 12 in Ireland in 1991. In 2003, after the song was used in a 2002 Vodafone advertisement, it was remixed by Fatboy Slim and Simon Thornton and released again. The remix peaked at number 19 in the United Kingdom, number 34 in Ireland, number 40 in Greece and number 96 in the Netherlands.

The single was dedicated to Alan Duffy, noting "shine on you crazy diamond" on the CD single sleeve.

Background

The name of the song came about after the Mock Turtles were asked for a name for a song for the B-side to "Lay Me Down" so that the sleeve art could be produced. Martin Coogan had been watching The Warriors, which featured the rallying call, "Can you dig it?". The name came first and then the band went off to write the song.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Can You Dig It? (The Mock Turtles song)” as single by The Mock Turtles. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mock, Turtles and song.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1991, 1990, 2003, 2002—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1991. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Mock, Turtles and song providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Can You Dig It? (The Mock Turtles song)”, the useful work is to connect “single by The Mock Turtles” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5029099. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1991, 1990, 2003 and 2002.

Critical limits

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Can You Dig It? (The Mock Turtles song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.