Hank Green - Phineas Gage lyrics
[Hank Green - Phineas Gage lyrics]
Oh, Phineas Gage was 25 years old in 1848
And he liked his job
Working at the railroad
But he had another fate
He was blasting rock when
Something distracted him
And he forgot to put the tamping sand in
He shoved the tamping rod into that
Little hole onto the blasting powder
And suddenly his entire left frontal lobe
Had been turned into clam chowder
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
A little while later Phineas Gage
Was sitting on his bed
He told the doctor the tamping rod
Had shot straight through his head
But the doctor could not
Believe what Phineas said
For if that were the case
He surely would be dead
But then Phineas had a coughing fit
And a teacup full of brains
Fell out of his head and that was more than
The doctor could explain
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
Well the doctor told the family
To prepare for Gage's death
'Cause the one you take before your head
Gets stabbed is usually your last breath
And Phineas spent the next few months in bed
In and out of consciousness
With a swelling in his head
But mere months after the accident, he
Walked right down his stairs
As if having lost a quarter of his
Brain left him no worse for wear
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
But unfortunately for Phineas
Our story won't end there
The reason we still know his name is
The strangest part of this affair
After his brain was scrambled his
Friends and family said
"Oh, this is no longer Phineas there's
A new man here instead"
And thus we know that operating on
The brain needn't not cause death
And that what makes a person who he is
Is not the heart but the head
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
Oh Phineas Gage was 37 years old
When he finally made his way
Back to his home and family
For he could tell the day of his
Death was fin'ly creeping up on him
'Cause he forgot to put the tamping sand in
And as common in these cases
Of severe head trauma
Seizures took their toll and put
An end to this drama
And he liked his job
Working at the railroad
But he had another fate
He was blasting rock when
Something distracted him
And he forgot to put the tamping sand in
He shoved the tamping rod into that
Little hole onto the blasting powder
And suddenly his entire left frontal lobe
Had been turned into clam chowder
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
A little while later Phineas Gage
Was sitting on his bed
He told the doctor the tamping rod
Had shot straight through his head
But the doctor could not
Believe what Phineas said
For if that were the case
He surely would be dead
But then Phineas had a coughing fit
And a teacup full of brains
Fell out of his head and that was more than
The doctor could explain
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
Well the doctor told the family
To prepare for Gage's death
'Cause the one you take before your head
Gets stabbed is usually your last breath
And Phineas spent the next few months in bed
In and out of consciousness
With a swelling in his head
But mere months after the accident, he
Walked right down his stairs
As if having lost a quarter of his
Brain left him no worse for wear
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
But unfortunately for Phineas
Our story won't end there
The reason we still know his name is
The strangest part of this affair
After his brain was scrambled his
Friends and family said
"Oh, this is no longer Phineas there's
A new man here instead"
And thus we know that operating on
The brain needn't not cause death
And that what makes a person who he is
Is not the heart but the head
Oh this is the story of Phineas Gage
Who was stabbed in the brain
And once your frontal lobe
Has been destroyed
You can never go home again
Oh Phineas Gage was 37 years old
When he finally made his way
Back to his home and family
For he could tell the day of his
Death was fin'ly creeping up on him
'Cause he forgot to put the tamping sand in
And as common in these cases
Of severe head trauma
Seizures took their toll and put
An end to this drama