"It's All in Your Head" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group

Diamond Rio Diamond Rio is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Marty Roe (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar, banjo), Dan Truman (keyboards), Dana Williams (bass guitar, vocals), Micah Schweinsberg ( ...

. It was released in August 1996 as the third single from their album '' IV''. It peaked at number 15 in the United States, and number 17 in Canada. The song was written by Van Stephenson, who was then a member of the country music band BlackHawk, Tony Martin and Reese Wilson.

Content

The song describes a young male who has grown up suffering from the death of his parents. The boy's father was a preacher who anticipated an eventual apocalypse, and he died while having the spirit to take up a snake, and he was killed by it. The boy's father's last words to the boy were; "''We never walked on the moon, Elvis ain't dead, you ain't going crazy, it's all in your head''."

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling the song "unique, with an infectious, swampy beat and intriguing lyric about a 'sidewalk soapbox preacher' on an unusual path to salvation". She went on to say that lead vocalist Marty Roe "tackles the lyric with a funky energy".''

'', August 24, 1996

Music video

The music video was directed by directing duo

Deaton-Flanigen Productions Deaton-Flanigen Productions is an American film company based in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., headed by Robert Deaton. The company has between 10 and 50 employees. Overview The company was named after the surnames of founders Robert Deaton III ...

. It describes most of the content, and shows the boy (revealed to be known as Gordon Wallace Poole) grown up being in a mental hospital.

Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...

plays the father (and the doctor in the mental hospital), and Sheen's son Ramon Estevez plays Gordon as an adult. This video also features Melissa McBride, who later went on to play the character of Carol on The Walking Dead.

Chart performance

"It's All in Your Head" debuted at number 70 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of August 24, 1996.

References

{{authority control 1996 singles 1995 songs Diamond Rio songs Songs written by Tony Martin (songwriter) Songs written by Van Stephenson Music videos directed by Deaton-Flanigen Productions Arista Nashville singles Songs written by Reese Wilson Songs about children Songs about parenthood Songs about religion