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These lyrics are taken directly from Doctor Harlow's notes on his patient who suffered a hole in his head but miraculously survived.

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5. Phineas Gage (1848)

September 13th 1848
Phineas Gage charged a hole to blast rock for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont. The powder and fuse were in the hole. While Gage was tamping it with an iron rod, he was distracted by his men in the pit behind him. He dropped the iron upon the charge and it struck fire upon the rock. The explosion projected the iron
passing completely through his head. His gang took him back to the hotel where Doctor Harlow treated him. His brain protruded from the opening and hanged in shreds upon the hair. The globe of the left eye left its orbit. The pulsations of the brain were distinctly seen and felt. To ascertain if there were foreign bodies in the brain, The doctor probed it with his index finger. The doctor removed small pieces of bone and removed an ounce or more of the protruding brain. He replaced the larger pieces of bone as best as he could. Gage’s face, hands,
and arms were deeply burned. On the 14th Phineas asked who replaced him at work. On the following day he lost control of his mind. Became delirious with occasional lucid intervals. On the 16th particles of brain discharged from Gage’s mouth. By the 23rd he lost vision in his left eye. On the 27th the doctor had to cut off fungi sprouting from the brain and with a scalpel released eight ounces of pus and blood. In October, Gage’s mental faculties oscillated. One day he was clear. Another childish. On November 25th Gage returned home. For the next 12 years, Phineas Gage found work. He ended up in Chile driving a 6 horse coach. Eventually made his way to San Francisco where he suffered epileptic fits until his death on May 21 1861.

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from Weird, Sordid, & Deadly But True Tales of America (1609 - 1906), released January 29, 2015

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Peter Ellis Los Angeles, California

When not suffering from moral turpitude, morbid fixations, and delusions of grandeur, I am taking my coffee very seriously.

My favorite albums of 2014:

Ariel Pink's Pom Pom,
Luluc's Passerby, Real Estate's Atlas,
Stephen Malkmus' Wig Out at Jagbags, Pallbearer's Foundation of Burden,
Ty Segall's Manipulator,
and
J Mascis' Tied to a Star ... more

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