Messina debuted in 1996 with the single "Heads Carolina, Tails California". Her album was certifified Gold by the RIAA. Her second album, I'm Alright produced five Top 10 Country hits between 1998 in 1999 and sold over a million copies in America. Since her debut, six of her singles have peaked at #1 on the Billboard Country singles chart and five of her albums have received a certification by the RIAA or the CRIA.
She was raised in Holliston, Massachusetts, by Vincent and Mary Messina, and had two sisters, Terese and Marianne, as well as a brother named Vincent. Messina had a variety of Country music influences, which included Patsy Cline, Reba McEntire, and The Judds. She soon started performing live, and by age 16 she was playing local clubs with a rhythm section made up of her brother and sister. The family band played up until Messina was in her late teens.
Realizing that living in the Northeast would limit her chances of achieving Country music stardom, Messina moved to Nashville at age 19. To support herself, Messina worked various temp jobs, including computer programming and accounting. In her spare time, she entered talent contests around Nashville.
One win led to a regular gig on the radio show Live at Libby's, which in turn caught the interest of producer Byron Gallimore, who helped her assemble a demo tape. Gallimore was also working with the young Tim McGraw around the same time, and Messina befriended him. Backstage at one of his concerts, Messina met an executive from his label, Curb, and jokingly suggested that they needed a redhead. With the help of fellow Curb producer James Stroud, Messina was then signed to the record label. Gallimore and McGraw would later become co-producers of Messina's studio albums under Curb.
In 2022, Cole Swindell had a major hit with a remake of "Heads Carolina, Tails California" entitled "She Had Me At Heads Carolina." In the music video, Jo Dee plays a small part as the bartender in a Karaoke bar.
My Give A Damn's Busted
Jo Dee Messina Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With so many lies.
You twisted my heart
'Til something snapped inside.
I'd like to give it one more try
But my give a damn's busted.
You can crawl back home
Stand out in the yard
And cry all night long.
Go ahead and water the lawn.
My give a damn's busted.
[Chorus]
I really want to care,
I want to feel somethin'
Let me dig a little deeper
Naw
Sorry
Nothin'
You can say you've got issues.
You can say you're a victim.
It's all your parents fault,
I mean, after all you didn't pick 'em
Maybe somebody else's got time to listen.
My give a damn's busted.
Well your therapist says
It was all a mistake
A product of the prozac
And your co-dependent ways
So, who's your enabler these days?
My give a damn's busted.
[Chorus]
It's a desperate situation,
No tellin' what you'll do.
If I don't forgive you,
You say your life is through.
Come on, give me somethin' I can use.
My give a damn's busted.
[Chorus]
Just nothin'
No
You've really done it this time (Haha)
My give a damn's busted.
In Jo Dee Messina's song, "My Give a Damn’s Busted," the lyrics describe a situation in which the singer has been hurt by someone who has betrayed their trust. The person has filled their head with so many lies, twisted their heart, and caused something to snap inside the singer. Despite their desire to give it one more try, the singer asserts that their "give a damn's busted" and they have no more emotional energy left to invest in the relationship. In the chorus, the singer expresses their desire to care and feel something, but they simply cannot muster the emotional energy to do so.
The verses throughout the song provide examples of attempts to win back the singer’s trust, but the singer is no longer moved. The person who betrayed them can crawl back home and cry all night long, but the singer's give a damn is still busted. The person can make excuses or blame their issues on their parents or a therapist, but the singer has no more interest in listening. The situation is desperate, and the person pleads with the singer to forgive them, as if their life depends on it. But even this plea falls on deaf ears as the singer's give a damn is firmly busted.
Line by Line Meaning
Well you filled up my head
With so many lies.
You have told so many lies that it has filled up my head.
You twisted my heart
'Til something snapped inside.
You have hurt me so much that I can't take it anymore.
I'd like to give it one more try
But my give a damn's busted.
I want to give this relationship another chance, but I just don't care enough anymore.
You can crawl back home
Say you were wrong,
Stand out in the yard
And cry all night long.
Go ahead and water the lawn.
My give a damn's busted.
You can apologize all you want, but it won't change the fact that I don't care anymore.
I really want to care,
I want to feel somethin'
Let me dig a little deeper
Naw
Sorry
Nothin'
Although I want to care about you, I just can't bring myself to anymore.
You can say you've got issues.
You can say you're a victim.
It's all your parents fault,
I mean, after all you didn't pick 'em
Maybe somebody else's got time to listen.
My give a damn's busted.
You can blame your problems on others all you want, but I'm just not interested in listening anymore.
Well your therapist says
It was all a mistake
A product of the prozac
And your co-dependent ways
So, who's your enabler these days?
My give a damn's busted.
Even your therapist can't change the fact that I don't care anymore.
It's a desperate situation,
No tellin' what you'll do.
If I don't forgive you,
You say your life is through.
Come on, give me somethin' I can use.
My give a damn's busted.
You're trying to guilt trip me into forgiving you, but I just don't care anymore.
Just nothin'
No
You've really done it this time (Haha)
My give a damn's busted.
You've really messed up this time, but it won't change the fact that I don't care anymore.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: TONY MARTIN, TOM SHAPIRO, JOE DIFFIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pastor St.Onge
They asked me how I knew
My true love was true
I of course replied
Something here inside cannot be denied
They said "someday you'll find all who love are blind"
When your heart's on fire,
You must realize, smoke gets in your eyes
So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed
To think they could doubt my love
Yet today my love has flown away,
I am without my love
Now laughing friends deride
Tears I cannot hide
So I smile and say
When a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes
Kellie Hutchinson
best song for the way I am feeling. I gave a man 6 years of my life and got nothing but done wrong. its time for me now.
Irene Swarthout
I feel you I'm going thru this right now been w him 7 yrs now all the sudden he hates me I feel he's always talking to other women calls me names bad names yet I still love well I'm to the point now where I'm done I can't do it no more
Kaitlin Outdoors
YESSS 7 years!!! HE already moved on Oh well
Dr Lynn Vitale
Have 18 of my life 4 kids to a real rock star got tired of the lies n groupies who didn’t give a f
Danielle barnes
Same here
Kimberly Mattioda
ditto. so done with it
nodak927
I have a friend that FINALLY got rid of her abusive a.h. boyfriend. I suggested this as being her new theme song. A little 8 y.o. girl overheard us, looked up the video on her phone & just handed her phone to my friend,(we didn't even know her!) & said, "she's a real good singer. I just love country music, don't you?". Ahhh!....there IS hope for the future!
Juli E.
@Jenny Beam She's remarried & had 2 more boys. Happy & successful with a beautiful home, a new degree & a loving husband ( different guy). I couldn't be prouder of her! And she still loves the song.
RP Brooks
😁😁😁
Forrest Lemonds
I personally doubt there is hope for the future however the may be hope for the future. But like I said I doubt it very much so