Songfacts®:

• Many of us have skeletons in our closets, but also bones buried from the memories of past loves. In this song, Randy Travis, faced with another night alone, takes a swan dive into his sorrow by pulling out a picture of his ex along with some love letters from their time together. He even finds their wedding rings; he puts his on his finger and flings hers across the room.
  
  This song puts a name to this wallow: diggin' up bones. Resurrecting these painful memories is like exhuming bones that are best left buried.
• "Diggin' Up Bones" was part of Randy Travis' first album, Storms Of Life. Released as a single, it was his second Country #1, following "On the Other Hand." Just a few years earlier, he was known by his real name, Randy Traywick, and washing dishes at a place called The Nashville Palace, where he also got to perform. An A&R rep for Warner Bros. caught his act and signed him, a decision that paid off for the label as Travis became one of the top stars in country music.
• This song was written by Paul Overstreet and Al Gore. Overstreet also co-wrote "On the Other Hand" and ended up writing more hits for Travis, including "Forever And Ever, Amen" and "Deeper Than The Holler." Al Gore - not the former Vice President and almost-President in 2000 - had written a song called "Jesus Let Me Slide" (co-written and recorded by Dean Dillon) and had done production work for various artists.
  
  Overstreet and Gore wrote it on Thanksgiving day, 1983, at Gore's house where they were having Thanksgiving dinner. Overstreet had the title, and from there they fleshed out the concept by trading lines back and forth. Overstreet thought about recording it himself, but when Warner Bros. called asking for more songs for Travis, it went to Randy.
• This song has a lot of staying power; in 2021 it was certified Gold as a digital download for 500,000 downloads.