The song is by "Mono Puff" which was a solo project by one of the two people who make up They Might Be Giants, John Flansburg. It is titled "Unsupervised, I Hit My Head":
My head still hurts, but fortunately it seems it was a glancing blow, with an egg developing -- so the damage was recorded at the surface, and hopefully doesn't go deeper.
I've had three concussions in the past four years, the first two disabling me from work, and the most recent being seven months ago. The symptoms make me difficult to be around -- headaches, forgetfulness, sleep issues, and irritability -- and with the latter, I often seem like someone suffering from Tourette's syndrome. I usually don't swear at people, but when my computer is not acting the way that it should (like with Steemit this past week!), I talk like a sailor...
My career was software development, and I'd like to be able to do that again. For now, I'm working on my writing and art.
I hit my head in different places. I was distracted by memory.
Wow, that really resonates! In fact, I love the lyrics and will annotate them; starting from the top:
I hit my head. I hear the phone ring.
Often there's a ringing in one's ears. And, seeing stars is a real thing, which I first witnessed in Saturday-morning cartoons.
I was distracted by my friend Joe.
I hit my head. Now I'm left handed.
Personality changes can happen as a result of concussions. The last one, I lost the ability to walk and talk; fortunately, those resolved during the 5 hours we were in the emergency room.
Lost my sublet to my friend Joe.
I'm wondering whether Joe is a real person.
I've lost my superpowers. I was invisible.
I could just cut myself right out my will
I was unsupervised. I had a real good time until I... I hit my head.
I really like the "I could just cut myself right out my will", it seems dual meaning -- both, removing one's self from one's inheritance (which is generally always the case[1]); and, also, I often act/react unintentionally; from hitting my head, I don't have the same willpower I used to have, to deal calmly with vibrant stimuli.
[1] -- Back in the 90s I was very interested in nanotechnology. One similar interest was cryo-preservation. At one point I had the thought to check myself into the deep freeze before an accident could happen, so that I could wake up in the future with nanotech all around -- meaning I'd have backups and death from accidents wouldn't be an issue. Very glad not to have done that, because I very likely would merely have "committed suicide" and not be able to be brought back. I mention this, though, because the idea of "providing for one's inheritance" came up in relation to that idea -- if I'm "dead" and frozen, then I have no rights, and my stuff goes to my heirs. So, how to arrange it such that when I wake up, I'll be one of my heirs?
Back in the day with my friends 'round me,
You could count on me with just one hand.
It wasn't until writing this up that I realized the "on" is really there (had to listen a few times; it's faint). Previously I had thought "you could count me with just one hand" which made sense, as you only need one finger to count one person (and, lends credence to my thought of multiple personalities, since perhaps now you need more than one hand to count him -- but, that was my "typo"). But now, "count on me" changes the meaning -- is he saying he's more, or less, dependable now?
When I digress you'll find me smiling.
Could be living underneath the ground.
I often will be telling a story and lose my place due to the forgetfulness, but I am rarely smiling when that happens.
My dad likes to say, in response to "how are you?", occasionally: "On the right side of the grass!" Wondering whether John was writing about death, there.
I hit my head in different places. I was distracted by memory.
I was alone, or else just lonely, and Joe will never return again.
It seems like Joe might have been a creation due to his loneliness. I never had an "imaginary friend" when I was a child; I wonder if this relates?
We hoped for better things that were impossible.
We would just clap our hands and wait for the sound.
I really love that last line! When I was in high school I was up on the third floor playing board-based war games, and a baseball game was happening out on the field below. I watched a couple pitches and when the bat connected -- I had to wait for the sound! It took at least a second longer than the image, which was a really neat demonstration of the difference between the speed of light and sound.
Thinking of testing that so much closer to my sensory apparatus, that's a really neat thing. I just clapped my hands, and I don't detect a delay. But I know there is one. That's really cool.
Also, reminds me of the quote, "Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak." :)
We were unsupervised. We had a real good time until I...
I hit my head.
The three times I've hit my head, I was unsupervised; and, I was having a good time, until...
This most recent time though, I'm not certain about. I think I want to look into writing software again, and see how frustrating that is now. Weird. But hey, sometimes a blow to the head fixes what a blow to the head broke.
Enjoy!
