Jo Dee Messina Reveals Her ’90s Country Classic, “Heads Carolina, Tails California” Was A Last Minute Addition That Nearly Didn’t Make Her Debut Record

Didn’t fit her.

When you think about ’90s country, which is the golden era of the genre to some, a few songs come to mind. Whether it’s Brooks & Dunn’s “Brand New Man,” Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee,” Garth Brooks’ “Friends In Low Places,” Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” or songs from the likes of George Strait, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and more, it’s hard to point to a song that truly defined the decade.

One song that is continually thrown at the top of many’s lists is none other than Jo Dee Messina’s classic, “Heads Carolina, Tails California.”

Appearing on Messina’s 1996 self-titled debut album, the track was written by Tim Nichols and Mark D. Sanders, serving as her debut single. As we all know by now, the song was an absolute smash hit. Not only did it do incredibly well at the time and peaked all the way at #2 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in May of 1996, it’s also survived well into the 21st century, capturing a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2022 and procuring over 180 million streams on Spotify alone.

What makes “Heads Carolina, Tails California’s” success so incredible, however, is the fact that it originally wasn’t even included on her debut record and furthermore went through a key re-write to the song’s opening lines.

In a TikTok uploaded on Monday, Messina would dive into the background of the song and note that she was putting the finishing touches on her debut album when she got a call from Nichols telling her he had a song that she needed to hear.

“We were done recording for my first album, pretty much done. And I’d gotten a call from Tim Nichols… Tim had called and said, ‘Man, I wrote this song. I’d love to play it for you for this project. And I was like, ‘Aw, dude, I’m pretty sure were done cutting for this record. And he’s like, ‘Will you just listen to it.’

As Messina explains, Nichols would drop a demo of the song off in the mailbox at her house on his way back to Nashville. Hearing the song, she knew she had a pretty big hit on her hands.

“I listened to the song, and I was like, ‘Man, this chorus is so catchy. I loved the tune and just the energy behind the song.”

She’d then take it to her producers who also agreed that she had to cut the song for her debut record. The only problem was, since they were already finished recording for the project, studio days were already booked out well in advance. After months of waiting, Messina and Co. finally recorded the track on the 4th of July. However, that wasn’t after an interesting re-write that she’d dive into in a follow-up video.

@jodeemessinaHeres a little BTS on the song you all know. Have you heard this story about the song before ??♬ original sound – Jo Dee Messina

Hours after the first TikTok was posted, the “Bye Bye” singer would then reveal that the song’s iconic opening lines were re-written, per her request, since she didn’t relate to them.

“When I first got the song… I was like, ‘I love the song, but I don’t get the first two lines. I can’t relate to it. So my producers were like, ‘Well, we can talk to the writers and see if they’ll change the first two lines.”

She’d then reveal that the first two lines were the following:

“We should have known it the day they shut that paper mill down 
There’ll be no future for us no more in our little town 
I’ve got people in Austin…”

Of course, that’s a bit of a change from the now-iconic opening lines in the recorded version:

“Baby, what do you say we just get lost?
Leave this one horse town like two rebels without a cause
I’ve got people in Boston…”

The “Lesson In Leavin'” singer would then go on to explain that since she’s from Massachusetts, she wanted to replace “Austin” to “Boston” in addition to switching up the first two lines.

“I was like, “Well, I’m from Massachusetts, so I got people in Boston.’ If we could change that, it would be cool because then it would be like my own song.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Messina would note that just a few days later, Nichols and Sanders would send her back another demo tape of the song containing the opening lyrics we know and love today.

“After a couple of days, the writers came back to us and gave us a tape of the song with the two new lines which you guys know… So we ended up recording that song. It was a very last minute deal. And what was the last-minute addition to the record actually ended up being the very first single of my entire career. 

@jodeemessina Replying to @Anita Parsons ♬ original sound – Jo Dee Messina

It’s hard to believe that one of the most iconic songs from the decade was almost never recorded, but it’s safe to say that Messina made the right call, not only requesting a lyric-change but also recording the track itself.

“Heads Carolina, Tails California”