Phineas Gage Has Something to Tell These People
music by Ely Levin, words by Lloyd Miller (c) (p) 2011
appears on Strange Dees, Indeed by the Deedle Deedle Dees (release date: October 31, 2011)
PHINEAS PRE-ACCIDENT:
Phineas Gage
I'm on the railroad work gang
boring rock for roadbeds
that's my game
foreman of the crew
i put the powder, fuse and sand
tamp it down with the iron rod in my hand
September in Vermont
doing what I always do
load it up, stand back
b-boom boom boom
Iron flies through my cheek
out the back of my head
they found it 30 yds from the accident
PHINEAS POST-ACCIDENT:
Aw... what's up?
I feel all right
Yeah man I can ride in an oxcart to the boarding house
Anybody see that rod go through my head? Wow.
Phineas Gage
I'm my own stunt double
crow bar through my head
c-cause me no trouble
i do what i want
what I want I do is... um...
what was it I wanted to do?
hey, I know you
so they told me i can't do what I did before
i'm gonna take this tamping iron and go on tour
Barnum will take a handsome dude like me
put me up on the stage, folks'll pay to see
Phineas Gage
I'm my own stunt double
crow bar through my head
c-cause me no trouble
i do what i want
what I want I do is... eat
no, take that food away, I'm tired
I need to sleep
Where's my hat?
I'm hungry!
I'm ready for my bath
take me to the river
is it raining?
i wish it would snow...
DR. JOHN MARTYN HARLOW:
[The tamping iron] entered the cranium, passing through the anterior left lobe of the cerebrum, and made its exit in the medial line, at the junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures, lacerating the longitudinal sinus, fracturing the parietal and frontal bones extensively, breaking up considerable portions of the brain, and protruding the globe of the left eye from its socket, by nearly half its diameter.
Phineas Gage
I'm my own stunt double
crow bar through my head
c-cause me no trouble
i do what i want
and what I want what I want what I want...
If you've never heard the story of Phineas Gage, Google him or read the book Phineas Gage: A Gruesome But True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. After you do, write us with any questions you have about our dramatization of his ordeal.
Who does what on "Phineas Gage Has Something to Tell These People"
Otto von Dee (Ely Levin): keyboards, programming, medical report reading
Ulysses S. Dee (Lloyd Miller): vocals
Emily Dooley: questions
Dean Jones: recording, mixing, programming
