Cole Swindell is continuing his reign at the top of the charts with “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.” The song, a tribute to Jo Dee Messina‘s “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” has remained in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Country Airplay chart for three consecutive weeks. “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” comes on the heels of his “Never Say Never” duet with Lainey Wilson, which also became Swindell’s fastest climb to the top place on the charts.
Ironically, it was “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” that was first supposed to be a duet, between Swindell and one of the writers on the song, Thomas Rhett.
“Me and Thomas Rhett talked about this on tour last year, about wanting to do a song together,” Swindell revealed on Audacy’s Rob + Holly. “That was the original plan, was for me and Thomas Rhett to sing, whatever this song became, together.”
“The angle we wrote it in the room, it just didn’t make sense really for both of us,” he added. “And TR is such a great writer anyways, so I’m proud to have him be a part of it.”
The Georgia native knew “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” was a fun song that he was proud to be part of, but he had no idea how much his fans would react to the uptempo track.
“The reaction to this song has blown me away,” Swindell said of the song. “From the minute I released it you all raised your hand in support of it, and it means the world to me. Getting to stand in front of you night after night hearing you sing it back is the best feeling in the world! So thankful for my team and everyone that makes these moments possible.”
Swindell didn’t even know Messina when he wrote “She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” but he reached out to her after the song was finished.
“I finally got her contact info,” Swindell previously said. “I had been wanting to reach out to her, and tell her what a fan I was. I think I might have met her at a festival years ago, briefly, when I was selling t-shirts. We don’t really know each other … I just got her number and just sent her a text letting her know that it was me and that I’ve been wanting to reach out and that I finally got her contact. [I] just let her know what a fan I was and that the original song, without that, obviously, I would have never had this idea. I just wanted her to know I wanted her to be as much of a part of it as she wanted to be. Or if not at all, that’s fine too.”
Messina makes a cameo in the “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” video.
Both “Never Say Never” and “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” are from Swindell’s fourth album, Stereotype, which was released in April. Swindell is currently on his Back Down To the Bar Tour. Find music and tour dates at ColeSwindell.com.