Can’t you notice that the world cares that you’re in it?
Won’t you get that through your head?
Cause I’ve thought myself into an island and
The smartest people that I know are dead.

Written and Performed by Dan Gardner
Based on music by Chris Garofolo and Dan Gardner



Amelia

A Learning Curve

Sugarfoot

Written and performed by Dan Gardner 
Recorded by Tyler Pursel at Walnut Room Recordings, Mont Clare, PA


Somerset (Acoustic)

An Oral History (Acoustic)

The cold wind is stinging my face
At the pumps where we try to decide
What to do in this town once the sun has gone down
The dark roads will act as our guide

Our jokes are as bad as the food
We buy coffee so that we can stay
A dozen gruff voices and register noises
This will make a good movie someday

At Wawa's and diners we stay until dawn
Driving around cause we all like the sight
Of the lights as they pass while we sing teenage songs
Closing my eyes and absorbing the night

This car seems so cozy in winter
When we are sure to get lost
And when we unload on a dark scary road
We'll write our names in the frost

I play these memories in my mind
Of places I have left behind
And times that I cannot reclaim
I'll try to go back but it won't be the same

At Wawa's and diners we stayed until dawn
Driving around cause we all liked the sights
Of the lights as they passed while we sang teenaged songs
I still close my eyes and I still love the night

Wawas and Diners

The greatest pain
Is watching the one you love love someone else
Lesson of life
Illustrated for me on that couch
She looks so beautiful
Laying on your lap falling asleep
And leaving you
Alone and knowing she's not yours to keep
Anymore
The circumstance that kept you two apart
And just to think
She used to love you with all her heart
But swept away
You lost her in the lonely desperate lies
As you hold on
To the whispts of what you have before it dies

So live in this moment cause this moment is the last you'll ever have
Of what you had
I'll take me months to understand
The look in your eyes as you stroke her hair, count the seconds 'till she wakes
Cause when she wakes
When she wakes you will never have her again

I'll never know
What was going through your head that night
It all went wrong
For you for doing what you knew was right
And she's so beautiful
But you know she loves him more that you
But still you hold
You hold her cause there's nothing left to do
Cause still you feel
Her face has broken through your bitter shell
You feel her warmth
And pull her close cause she feels yours as well
But it's too late
I know you know the rules that you two bend
But do not break
And she sleeps in your arms as a friend

Till She Wakes

My lullaby: a subject unidentified
You’ll see through what hides the violence inside
My comfort food: this murder simply sets the mood
To watch you navigate your lives tonight

Figure it out, advance and stop the body count
Take a chance despite the mounting doubt
Trust the team to put the clues in place
Discuss a theme and give the monster a face

Were they misunderstood?
Was it a childhood?
Can someone be born bad?

Define a stranger’s soul
A mind so criminal
Assigned to comprehend
In time, wheels up in ten

How much torture can one take
Before it absorbs and causes a mind to break
How much more when the brain can’t shake 
The feeling that it’s own sickness caused it to take this case

So more quoting on the plane
Grasping at the feelings you can’t explain
What to say when the calm is fake
The fear of dreams keeping you awake

Revile a haunted soul
Profiled at Quantico
For they will strike again
Away, wheels up in ten

By Dan Gardner

Wheels Up

And when I finally get to sleep, I sweat
The Librium's taken effect
And when they pull out the IV, I bleed
The counselors ask me what I need, I say

I guess that I was born this way

Then comes the shame and the regret
How many days did I forget?
Dreams of my friends walking away
Alone, unsure, what can I say?

I guess that I was born this way
Excuse to use, I choose to pay

Hell if I could tell you why
I drink or what it means
So I’ll lie and almost die
And write my masterpiece
Hurt and hate, destroy, create
Realize that I’m wrong
Learn to live, but far too late
At least I’ll have a song

And when I finally earn some trust
Some trust I know I will betray

I guess that I was born this way

There is no sign, no key to me
So what’s the point in trying
I will work on my masterpiece
So why is my mother crying?
I hurt, I hate, I destroy, I create
And I don’t see the problem

Of course I do, but far too late… 




Somerset

I see through the door, she's alone in the smoking room
I can tell she could use a friend, but I figure I won't do
So I stay, and I wait, someone else will take my place
That's ok, cause if I tried, I would not know what to say

As I turn and walk away, I'll begin to wonder how
I can turn it all around so I'm the one she thinks about
This self sympathy centers me in lonely atrophy but I
Don't have the spine to express myself in time

Self centered courtesy
I feel sympathy for you
But I save plenty of for me too

Self centered sympathy
Where has it gotten me
It's a losing philosophy
But I don't really know how else to be
I feel sympathy for you
But I want you all to love me too
I can be a better man, I swear
But first you will have to care

I look through the door at the room where she had been
The smoke's still there, but she is gone, I will never see her again
So I sit and I write in the margins of the notes she liked
Those words that made her smile in this bubble for a while

Please, don't remember me
Look away and leave
You go and succeed

Self Centered Sympathy Song

According to Wikipedia, High Fructose Corn Syrup "comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose."

High Fructose Corn Syrup is also the solo output of singer/songwriter Dan Gardner, who has been recording and performing with various bands and projects in the greater Philadelphia area for the last twelve years.

Gardner began learning music in fourth grade when he was given a trumpet, an instrument that he still plays. Ever since then, music has been a focal point in his life. 

HFCS (or "Fructose" for short) began in earnest after the breakup of The Why Kay Kays, of which Gardner had been a member. He continued to collaborate with others and play in bands, but he also continued to write and record on his own. These songs and recordings became High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Though the lyrics to his songs are often confessional and very personal, Gardner is known for his sense of humor and rarely takes himself too seriously. His choice of "High Fructose Corn Syrup" as a name is clear evidence of this disposition.

He really likes cats.

High_Fructose_Corn_Syrup