My name is Phineas Gage
New Hampshire boy, born and raised
I drive a stagecoach here in Chile
You might say I've come a long way
Drive the coach steady, drive the coach slow
From Valparaiso to Santiago
Santiago to Valparaiso
Drive the coach steady, take it slow
The year was 1848
I was blasting Vermont granite
For the Burlington-Rutland railway
When the charge went off in my hand
It blew this iron bar straight through my head
Doctors all said I would soon be dead
But I wanted to get up from my sick bed
...And that's what I did
Drive the coach steady, drive the coach slow
Valparaiso to Santiago
Santiago to Valparaiso
Drive the coach steady, take it slow
In time I relearned everything
And I got all my memories
A two-inch hole on the top of my head
Now I keep that iron bar firm in my hand
People say I'm a changed man
Cursing, cheating and fighting
But what the docs couldn't understand
Was I was just still recovering
Hacks with axes grind away
Swinging their pet theories
But I was still recovering my empathy
You quacks all misrepresent me
But you don't know me
I'm still recovering my empathy
My name is Phineas Gage
Drive the coach steady, drive the coach slow
Valparaiso to Santiago
Santiago to Valparaiso
Drive the coach steady, take it slow
Listen to a rough solo recording
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