"It's All in Your Head" is the title of a song recorded by American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 group Diamond Rio

Diamond Rio

Diamond Rio is an American Country music/Christian music band formed in 1984 in Nashville, Tennessee. Since its foundation, the group has comprised the same six members: Gene Johnson , Jimmy Olander , Brian Prout , Marty Roe , Dan Truman , and Dana Williams...

. It was released in August 1996 as the third single from their 1996 album, IV

IV (Diamond Rio album)

IV is the fourth studio album released by American country music band Diamond Rio. It produced the Top 5 singles "Walkin' Away", "That's What I Get for Lovin' You" and "Holdin'", as well as the #15 "It's All in Your Head". "She Misses Him on Sunday the Most" was released as a single in Germany only...

. It peaked at #15 in the United States, and #17 in Canada. The song was co-written by Van Stephenson

Van Stephenson

Van Wesley Stephenson was an American singer-songwriter. He scored two US Billboard Hot 100 hits in the 1980s as a solo artist, and later became tenor vocalist in the country music band BlackHawk in the 1990s. In addition, Van co-wrote several singles for other artists, such as Restless Heart...

, who was then a member of the country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 band BlackHawk

Blackhawk (band)

Blackhawk is an American country music group founded in 1992 by Henry Paul , Van Stephenson , and Dave Robbins...

.

Content

The song describes a boy who has grown up suffering from the death of his parents. The boy's father was a preacher man looking forward to the end of the world, 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

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

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

Music video

The music video was directed by directing duo Deaton-Flanigen Productions

Deaton-Flanigen Productions

Deaton-Flanigen Productions is a music video directing duo composed of Robert Deaton III and George Flanigen IV. The two have directed multiple music videos, primarily in the field of country music...

. It describes most of the content, and shows the boy grown up being in a mental hospital. Martin Sheen

Martin Sheen

Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...

 plays the father and his son Ramon Estevez

Ramón Estévez

Ramon Luis "Ray" Estevez , sometimes billed as Ramon Sheen, is an American actor, director and runs Estevez Sheen Productions.- Early life :...

as the son as an adult.

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.

Chart (1996)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs	15
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	17