Skip to main content

TL;DR:

  • Peter Tork started writing one of The Monkees’ songs when he was in college.
  • He said he stored on part of the song in his brain for years.
  • The tune appeared on multiple successful albums.
The Monkees’ Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork in a row
The Monkees’ Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image

During college, Peter Tork started writing one of The Monkees‘ songs. He said it was about “the great unknown source of it all.” Tork felt the tune was perfect for The Monkees’ movie Head.

Micky Dolenz said The Monkees’ only theatrical movie was a deconstruction of Hollywood

During a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz discussed the origin of the Prefab Four’s movie Head. “The movie Head was created by Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and Jack Nicholson,” he recalled. 

“It wasn’t so much about the deconstruction of The Monkees, but it was using the deconstruction of The Monkees as metaphor for the deconstruction of the Hollywood film industry,” he opined. “I think it was restricted to 17 and over. Many of our fans couldn’t even get in.”

Peter Tork wrote 1 of The Monkees’ songs in his dressing room

Subsequently, Tork discussed one of the tunes from Head: “Can You Dig it?” “This started as a set of changes I wrote in college and didn’t know what to do with,” he revealed. “Then one afternoon on the set of The Monkees we were making the TV show and I had my guitar in my dressing room. 

“The basic lyrics came to me and these changes I had stored in the back of my brain spring forth and dictated that kind of vaguely Spanish/North African harmonic sense,” he continued. “I was writing about the great unknown source of all. It was perfect for the Head soundtrack.” Tork cited “Can You Dig It?” as one of the tracks that defined The Monkees’ career alongside big hits such as “Daydream Believer” and “I’m a Believer.”

Related

The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz Learned to Sing Songs ‘Properly’ When He Was in an Elton John Musical

How the song and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States and the united Kingdom

“Can You Dig It?” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The song appeared on the soundtrack for Head. The soundtrack peaked at No. 45 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks.

The United Kingdom was far less receptive to the song. According to The Official Charts Company, “Can You Dig It?” did not chart in the U.K. and neither did the album Head. Subsequently, the track appeared on the album Monkeemania (The Very Best of the Monkees). The compilation hit No. 70 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for a pair of weeks.

“Can You Dig It?” was not one of the Prefab Four’s hits but Tork felt it was an important part of their career.

Best in Entertainment