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{{short description|1996 song by Jo Dee Messina}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Heads Carolina, Tails California
| cover = Jo_DeeMessina_-_Heads_Carolina_single.png
| alt = A photo of the artist sitting backwards in a wooden chair.
| type = single
| artist = [[Jo Dee Messina]]
| album = [[Jo Dee Messina (album)|Jo Dee Messina]]
| B-side = Walk to the Light
| released = January 22, 1996
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = [[Country music|Country]]
| length = 3:29
| label = [[Curb Records|Curb]]
| writer =
* [[Tim Nichols]]
* [[Mark D. Sanders]]
| producer =
* [[Byron Gallimore]]
* [[Tim McGraw]]
| next_title = [[You're Not in Kansas Anymore]]
| next_year = 1996
| misc = {{External music video|"[https://web.archive.org/web/20071031184555/http://www.cmt.com/videos/jo-dee-messina/45757/heads-carolina-tails-california.jhtml Heads Carolina, Tails California]" at CMT.com}}}}
"'''Heads Carolina, Tails California'''" is a song written by [[Tim Nichols]] and [[Mark D. Sanders]] and recorded by American [[country music]] artist [[Jo Dee Messina]]. The song was released in January 1996 as her debut single and served as the lead-off single for her [[Jo Dee Messina (album)|self-titled debut album]]. The song reached the Top 10 on both the U.S. and Canadian country charts.

[[American Aquarium]] covered the song on their 2021 album ''Slappers, Bangers, and Certified Twangers: Vol 1.'' The song enjoyed a revival in 2022 when it was used as the basis for [[Cole Swindell]]'s number one hit "[[She Had Me at Heads Carolina]]", eventually propelling the original song to a platinum certification by the [[RIAA]].

==Content==
"Heads Carolina, Tails California" is an up-tempo song about a narrator who wants to just take her love and run off together somewhere, but anywhere will do as long as her love comes with her.

==Critical reception==
Deborah Evans Price, of ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "rollicking country ode to flipping a coin and hitting the road in search of a better life 'somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.' She also said that "passion and energy permeate Messina's strong vocal attacks on this infectious tune."<ref>''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'', February 3, 1996 - Vol. 108, No. 5</ref>

In 2022, [[Cole Swindell]], [[Ashley Gorley]], [[Jesse Frasure]], and [[Thomas Rhett]] re-wrote the song as "[[She Had Me at Heads Carolina]]", which heavily references "Heads Carolina, Tails California" and incorporates its melody. Additional co-writers' credit was also given to Sanders and Nichols. This song appears on Swindell's 2022 album ''[[Stereotype (Cole Swindell album)|Stereotype]]'',<ref name="american">{{cite web | url=https://americansongwriter.com/defying-the-stereotype-cole-swindell-releases-his-fourth-album/ | title=Defying the Stereotype: Cole Swindell Releases His Fourth Album | publisher=American Songwriter | date=April 8, 2022 | accessdate=April 8, 2022 | author=Katherine Yeske Taylor}}</ref> from which it was released as the third single. On November 7, 2022, Swindell released a remixed version of the song which featured new vocals by Messina.

In 2024, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked the song at #172 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-country-songs-1234986540/jo-dee-messina-heads-carolina-tails-california-1235009999/|title =The 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time|magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]|date =May 24, 2014}}</ref>

==Music video==
A [[music video]] was released for the song directed by Roger Pistole and filmed in the [[Mojave Desert]]. Messina is shown performing with an old-fashioned [[microphone]] in a run-down wooden shack in the desert and leaning against the counter of a diner, dressed as a waitress. Throughout the video are scenes of men traveling on an old dirt road pushing tires with them. They are seen sitting in the diner that Messina is seen in, and outside of a rural gas station in which the diner is located.

==Chart performance==
"Heads Carolina, Tails California" debuted at number 70 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of January 27, 1996. It would soon reach number 2 on that chart, behind "[[My Maria]]" by [[Brooks & Dunn]].
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!align="left"|Chart (1996)
!align="center"|Peak<br>position
|-
{{singlechart|Canadacountry|3|chartid=2980|publishdate=May 27, 1996|accessdate=July 20, 2013}}
|-
{{singlechart|Billboardbubbling100|11|artist=Jo Dee Messina}}
|-
{{singlechart|Billboardcountrysongs|2|artist=Jo Dee Messina}}
|}

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!scope="col"|Chart (1996)
!scope="col"|Position
|-
| Canada Country Tracks (''[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.9734&type=1&interval=24|title=RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1996|work=[[RPM (magazine)|RPM]]|date=December 16, 1996|accessdate=July 20, 2013}}</ref>
| align="center" | 26
|-
| US [[Hot Country Songs|Country Songs]] (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'')<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1996/hot-country-songs| title=Best of 1996: Country Songs | work=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media]] | date=1996| accessdate=July 20, 2013}}</ref>
| align="center" | 52
|}

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for ''Heads Carolina, Tails California''}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Jo Dee Messina|title=Heads Carolina, Tails California|award=Platinum|type=single|relyear=1996|certyear=2022|access-date=August 19, 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Jo Dee Messina}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1996 debut singles]]
[[Category:1996 songs]]
[[Category:Jo Dee Messina songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Tim Nichols]]
[[Category:Songs written by Mark D. Sanders]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Tim McGraw]]
[[Category:Curb Records singles]]
[[Category:Songs about California]]

Heads Carolina, Tails California - Revision history

imported>TenPoundHammer: /* Music video */ no