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“… all the judges recognised his special song writing talents and enormous potential … I told him after his first Star Maker appearance that he could be another Paul Kelly and I stand by my words today”
— Deniese Morrison, Starmaker Judge

Promo

They call Darren Colston a “Troubadour”. A gifted singer/songwriter with a unique talent for taking stories and injecting them straight into the heart of his audience.
Darren has several awards to his name including the Tamworth Independent Artists Male Vocalist of the Year. He has also penned and performed several charting singles: including the top 5 hit duet with Victoria Baillie, “Will You Stay” and the Golden Guitar nominated song “The Boundary Rider”.
Darren is a truly exceptional vocalist and fine guitarist whose songs “reflect love and life in Australia”. After navigating some hurdles which made him take some time out, Darren has found his voice again and he has sharpened his pencil, returning with his new song, “I Saw You Smile Today”.
Darren Colston is back!

Song Lyrics

Songs from the album
Ruckers Hill
1 Old Town
2 Hello Riverina
3 Ruckers Hill
4 Things, People, Places
5 Nothing I Can Do
6 I let The Bottle Do The Lying
7 The Mother
8 Call It Australia
9 The Lantern
10 What Happened To Dreams
11 I saw You Smile Today
1 Old Town
written by Darren Colston
In a pub above the juke box – Is where my bed would be
There started my adventure- With the music playing free
And this pretty girl beside me- She’d kinda welcomed me to town
She showed me things I’d never seen- really showed this boy around – Yeah
We sat on that verandah- Looking down on Eastern Street
Watching cars lap top to bottom- While we sweltered in the heat
We chanced some physical encounters- Laughing free without a care
As the cars went by below us- never knowing we were there
In that old town
I wonder if she’s still around
In that old town
Two lovers , One Summer in that old town
So much that quickly happened- Like the boy we couldn’t save
Coles burning down at midnight- Picnics out at Graham’s Grave
I led the rodeo up Main Street- Went on telly singin’ songs
Had my first of few hangovers- And boy that day was long
Br ##
And there beside the juke box was the first time that I sang
With that pretty girl beside me- Who turned this boy into a man ##
In that old town
I wonder if she’s still around
In that old town
Two lovers , One Summer in that old town
That old building is still standing- But no longer serving beers
The licence went to Sydney- In the big Olympic year
The bar’s gone with the juke box- There’s no music there’s no noise
By day a second hand shop- Selling pre-loved clothes and toys
In that old town
I wonder if she’s still around
In that old town
Two lovers , One Summer in that old town
I wonder if she’s still around
In that old town
Two lovers , One Summer in that old town
2 Hello Riverina
Written by Darren Colston
Hello Riverina- It’s a long time since I’ve seen ya
With your hills of gold canola - glowing in the sun
Where the Murrumbidgee’s playin’- through the river gum trees swayin’
On a breeze that’s come to tell us- a new season has begun
CH // Ooh Ooh Ooh ooh Ooh
Your song is in my bones
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Hello Riverina I’ve come home //
The roads that lie before me- take me to a thousand stories
Some remembered some forgotten- Some yet to be made
Shed my boots down by The Murray- Old Man’s never in a hurry
Tip a can and ponder life- By a willow in the shade
CH // Ooh Ooh Ooh ooh Ooh
Your song is in my bones
CH // Ooh Ooh Ooh ooh Ooh
Your song is in my bones
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Hello Riverina I’ve come home //
## Bridge ##
Restless dreams- They keep my wheels a rollin’
But back they’ll turn- You know they always do…..to you ##
Hello Riverina- it’s a long time since I’ve seen ya
With your hills of gold canola- Glowing in the sun
I can feel you like a mother- A sister and a brother
May my ashes fall upon you- When my dreaming days are done
CH // Ooh Ooh Ooh ooh Ooh
Your song is in my bones
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Hello Riverina I’ve come home
I’ve come home
Hello Riverina I’ve come home //
3 Ruckers Hill
Written by Darren colston
I could hear the old trams rolling by
Looking over town through a young boy’s eye
Pointing out the window gave her pride
This little boy in wonder, by her side
Showed me different things across her town
There were always new ones to be found
Every story made her come alive
This little boy in wonder, by her side
(Chorus)
// I could see the whole damn city -Every light burning Oh so pretty
From her top-floor windowsill - And I bet she lingers still
On Ruckers Hill- Ruckers Hill- Looking down from Ruckers Hill
Ruckers Hill- Ruckers Hill- By the church on Ruckers Hill
On High Street //
There’s the shrine where we stand- remember them
See the waves in the bay just now and then
To the junction where Coca Cola stood
And the black and white- It’s the good old Collingwood
//Chorus//
Solo
Sixty years she made that place her home
Lived her life on terms that were her own
Never left until her final ride
Old Ruckers Hill was with her when she died
// YOU could see the whole damn city -Every light burning Oh so pretty
From her top-floor windowsill - And I bet she lingers still
On Ruckers Hill- Ruckers Hill- Looking down from Ruckers Hill
Ruckers Hill- Ruckers Hill- She’ll be there on Ruckers Hill
Ruckers Hill - Ruckers Hill -Looking down from Ruckers Hill
Ruckers Hill- Ruckers Hill- By the church on Ruckers Hill
On High Street //
4 Things People Places
written by Darren Colston
Just let it go she said- So you might grow she said
I didn’t know that I was tied up to the railing
Nothing to show for recent years of heavy sailing
Break off the ties that bind- It’s time to rise and shine
I know the size of the world’s a little daunting
Each time you rise you only see what’s disappointing
Things People Places
You’re bound by old and worn-out laces
They won’t let you be until you open up your spaces
To new things people places
The past can not be changed- Erased or rearranged
The ones you love will love you still- That’s for certain
But there’s another window just behind the curtain
So much you have to give- A life that wants to live
The south will always be your friend as you go northward
But in no small way you will mend as you go forward
Things People Places
You’re bound by old and worn-out laces
They won’t let you be until you open up your spaces
To new things people places
Things People Places
You’re bound by old and worn-out laces
They won’t let you be until you open up your spaces
To new things people places
Things People Places
Things People Places
5 Nothing I Can Do
Written by Darren Colston
I can’t just pretend- That I can’t see the end
And I’m twelve or thirteen different shades of blue
But there’s nothing I can do about you
Forget the plans we said- Tear up the page instead
And I’ll grieve the dreams that will never come true
Coz there’s nothing I can do about you
I thought we had it down- The sweetest place I’d found
But you closed the curtain, took away my view
And there’s nothing I can do about you
You’ve been in my soul forever
And we’d finally come together
Bust something’s broke I s’pose
Coz you won’t hold me close
And you don’t want it to get better
Now I can’t find my peace- Alone and walking these streets
And I’m cursing lovers as they go by two-by-two
Coz there’s nothing I can do about you
I can’t just pretend- That I can’t see the end
And I’ll grieve the dreams that will never come true
Coz there’s nothing I can do
And there’s nothing I won’t do
But there’s nothing I can do about you
No there’s nothing I can do about you
6 I Let The Bottle Do The Lying
written by Darren Colston
I cracked some demons on the head with a Jim Beam bottle
But they always come to seek revenge on me
Yeah I’ve tried to immunise the ills I’m hidin’
But they’re slowly building their immunity
Oh I danced a thousand times with all the devils
Despite knowing I was setting up to fall
Like a teacher redelivering the lesson
But I never seem to learn too much at all
When I hear that little boy cryin’
Walking lost within my soul
I let the bottle do the lyin’ for me
Coz that’s the thing I can control
Well I lose the war of words with my opponent
Then I realise I’m talkin’ to myself
So the doctor in me looks for medication
As I lift another bottle from the shelf
When I hear that little boy cryin’
Walking lost within my soul
I let the bottle do the lyin’ for me
Coz that’s the thing I can control
Solo
When I hear that little boy cryin’
Walking lost within my soul
I let the bottle do the lyin’ for me
Coz that’s the thing I can control
I cracked some demons on the head with a Jim Beam bottle
But they always come to seek revenge on me
Yeah I’ve tried to immunise the ills I’m hidin’
But they’re slowly building their immunity
7 The Mother
written by Darren Colston
I am the winter wind- Come to take you down
And I’ve travelled wide and far
I’m looking for you- I know that you’re around
And I’ll find you where you are
Listen to me blow
Can you hear me blow off the mountain
I am the winter wind- Come to take you down
And I’ll find you where you are
I am the water- I am the driving rain
And I give but I can take
I’ll break the rivers- And carry you away
Then maybe you will wake
Listen to me flow
Can you see me flow through your front door
I am the water- I am the driving rain
Yeah I think it’s time to take
(solo)
I am the summer heat- Growing year by year
I’m set and going higher
I am the teacher- of lessons you should fear
And the class today is fire
Do you see me glow
Come watch me glow from (in) the embers
I am the summer heat- The teacher you should hear
And I’m gonna burn you…
I am The Mother- The earth the wind the fire
Are you listening to me
8 Call It Australia
Written by Darren Colston
It’s the changing of the landscape- Through fits of summer rain
It’s the hope of better weather- On land you just can’t tame
It’s snow atop the mountains- It’s the grasses on the plains
It’s the red dirt of The Alice- By the West Macdonnnel Range
Call it Australia
It’s the loose and leaning fences- In the shifting desert sands
It’s the lowing of the cattle- On beef and dairy land
It’s galahs a billion squawking- It’s the creaking river gums
It’s four-by-fours exploring- Old forgotten cattle runs
Call it Australia
call it Australia
It’s the man who learned his dreaming- From pictures on the rocks
It’s the woman and her family- Who descend from convict stock
It’s the one who built the Snowy- When to Europe we said please
The depressed and the downtrodden-Who reached out from on their knees
Call it Australia
Call it Australia
Call it Australia
Br ##
Where the boys are in a hurry- And the girls just make you wait
Oh- But you ain’t got no worries- Just as long as you’ve got mates ##
It’s the stars that fill the night sky- Barely leaving room for black
It’s the sheds all full of shearers- It’s an opal miner’s shack
It’s potholes in the blacktop- On roads that never end
It’s fishing from a tinny- By a willow on the bend
Call it Australia- Call it Australia
Call it Australia- Call it Australia
It’s all of this together- All of this and so much more
9 The Lantern
Written by Darren Colston
I am the lantern for the people in my street
I don’t do the dancin’ - I just light the dancer’s feet
This rock of ages- This town I call my home
Is stuck in the pages of a journey not my own
Something’s very different- something’s going down
And I don’t seem to recognise the people in this town
I see them walking as they drag their ball and chain
Nobody’s talking ‘bout the market or the rain
Not like we used to when we’d all come out to play
No one refused you- No one looked the other way
Something’s very different- something’s going down
And I don’t seem to recognise the people in this town
# It’s true we’ve had our share of good times
And we’ve held together in some bad
But this here somethin’ is like no time …we’ve ever had #
The restless slumber- The collective captured breath
No caller number to identify the threat
I look around me but I seem to lose my sight
A dimming surrounds me that a lantern just can’t light
Something’s very different- something’s going down
And I don’t seem to recognise the people in this town
Something’s very different- something’s going down
And I don’t seem to recognise the people in this town
10 What Happened To Dreams
written by Darren Colston
Once there was fire
Now this world feels so cold
And I can’t help feeling I’ve lost
And it’s time to get old
I used to now love
Knew that somebody cared
Now I open the door and I look
But there’s nobody there
CH
// And the load’s just a little too much
Starved of another one’s touch
My cup runneth dry and there’s no passers by
On this road that goes nowhere, it seems
I used to have dreams
Such beautiful dreams
What happened to dreams //
Solo
// I used to have dreams- such beautiful dreams
What happened to dreams //
Bridge
# I once had a good life- I once had it all
But with no one to share all my dreams
Then my dreams have no meaning
No meaning at all #
// And the load’s just a little too much
Starved of another one’s touch
My cup runneth dry and there’s no passers by
On this road that goes nowhere, it seems
I used to have dreams
Such beautiful dreams
What happened to dreams //
11 I Saw You Smile Today
Written by Darren Colston
I saw you smile a little smile today
Filled the shadows in the room
And you kinda laughed then as you walked away
I hope to hear it more real soon
No one can change the way it all went down
Left you breathless on the floor
And no one caught you before you hit the ground
Too lost in what we were grieving for
If I could make it better I would
There is no magic word, no, no this ain’y Hollywood
But I know time will heal just as it should
A little more each day
Life comes back to play
I saw you smile today
How or worlds all changed by losing one
Some a little some much more
No one understood the race you’d run
Till you washed up on the shore
Wordless hours serve to pass the day
Coz that’s the thing that gets you through
Though only time came make the hurting fade
We can share the load with you
If I could make it better I would
There is no magic word, no, no this ain’y Hollywood
But I know time will heal just as it should
A little more each day
Life comes back to play
I saw you smile today
If I could make it better I would
There is no magic word, no, no this ain’y Hollywood
But I know time will heal just as it should
A little more each day
Life comes back to play
I saw you smile today