A playlist full of tracks created by the writers, musicians and producers of our music community, "The MusiCollective" - this is the July 2024 edition, featuring both new songs and a couple of oldies from the last couple of years.

A huge congratulations to everyone involved in this. We have a mix of complete recording newbies, seasoned pros and everything in between. All as incredible as each other.

The MusiCollective is a community of people that get behind each others' projects, for example by helping with songwriting, arrangements, recording and production. It is a continuation of TGS Records (@tgs-records) which started as a lockdown project and has been snowballing new members in ever since. If you'd like to join us, get in touch by emailing themusicollective21@gmail.com or filling in this short form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQL…wform?usp=sf_link

TMC Records - July 2024 playlist

LYRICS AND CREDITS

LYRICS
DON’T MESS WITH ME by Lucia Mameli

This time I won’t discuss it
Today I won’t argue about it
This one is out of the question
My blood feels a new aggression

Don’t mess with me again.  Don’t mess with me again
You’ve made me live under acid rain
Don’t mess with me again.  Don’t mess with me and my time
I’ve heard too long your honey bribes
Don’t mess with me again.  Don’t mess with me no more
You mess with me this time and it’ll be war

You’ve had your go and it hurt so
I say no more, I say no more
This is my life to live and now
This is my gig and I know how

Won’t be the one to  understand
I’ve had enough of your demands
You’ve had your go, I felt so low
Now I am strong, You’ll do me no wrong

Don’t mess with me again.  Don’t mess with me again
You’ve made me live under acid rain
Don’t mess with me again.  Don’t mess with me and my time
I’ve heard too long your honey bribes
Don’t mess with me again.  Don’t mess with me no more
You mess with me this time and it’ll be war

CREDITS
Lucia Mameli: Lyrics, Music, Lead Vocals, Producer
Luca Teixeira: Banjo, Guitar, Piano, Drums
Frances Cira: Backing Vocals
Roman Gottwald: Musical Saw
Stopmediastudio: Mixing, Mastering, Co-Producing

DON'T MESS WITH ME

"Last Call" is a pop-rock ballad about pouring your heart into something without any immediate payoff — and wondering if you should keep going. It captures that three-feet-from-gold moment, when exhaustion sets in and the dream (personified as “you”) feels distant, yet your heart knows it’s yours. Rooted in perseverance, it’s a reminder to hold on even when the world gives you every reason to walk away. Drawn from my own journey — leaving India to pursue music in the U.S., with family half a world away — the song blends synthy textures with rock guitars and drums, beginning with a spacey openness and building into a gritty, anthemic climax: a sonic embodiment of resilience.

Lyrics:

Took a plunge off the pier
Shook hands with my fears
Struck a deal with hope
All just to hold you close

Haven't seen my family in years
Learnt to laugh, love through my tears
Crossed the seven seas
But you don't seem to see

The way I try hard to make you mine
Yet you turn away
(You) find someone else to bless,
to take my place

How u wander though you know
You can make me your home
And I don't know where to stop
I go on, on, on…

To my last call
Once (and) for all
I've waited way too long
Here's the last one
Then I'm done
But you're my only one
Maybe I'm foolish, maybe I'm vain
but I can't go on living this way
it's the last call
(The) last one
then I will be gone

Now I've made a few mistakes
And that's how we up the stakes
I've found peace in that face
And love in myself
Tryna be with you has taught me the best
And all I ask from you is a yes, yes

In the last call
Once (and) for all
(I've) waited (for) way too long
Here's the last one
then I'm done
You're my only one
Maybe I'm foolish, maybe I'm vain
But (I)can't go on living this way
Here’s the last call
(The) last one
then I will be gone

Last Call

Once again, I realised the monthly @themusicollective playlist was almost upon me, so tried to quickly cobble together a song. The bulk of this (including verse 3, 4 and the chorus) originates from a songwriting challenge (of writing a verse or chorus a day for a month) I did during the lockdown, and I just added verse 1 and 2 this morning. Somehow turned into a song somehow dealing with anxiety and somewhat influenced by the current heatwave. Oh, and musically I stole the riff I figured out for Jolene!

Lyrics:

Verse 1
Monday morning pries your eyelids open with a cheeky grin
And without warning anxiety tries to start its quest of creeping in
You feel the scorching sun summon the heat 
The battle of torture and fun begins to tickle your feet

Verse 2
You try your best to fight the urge to give in to that smouldering weight
That lies upon your chest just waiting to be stirred before it
Grabs your head and heart and suddenly you’re afraid cos the
Biggest part of you can tell it’s too late

Chorus
You wanna
Get out of the day and face the bed
Pull the plug on the madness that’s rampaging through your head
Just forget about the nice things noone’s ever said 
To you and feel reality’s hold on you fall away

Verse 2
You throw a pinch of truth into a soup full of lies,
To hide the bittersweet flavour of your crooked alibis,
You hope that one more scoop will satisfy your hunger
But in the end it keeps your cravings alive for longer

Chorus
I wanna
Get out of the day and face the bed
Pull the plug on the madness that’s rampaging through my head
Just forget about the nice things noone’s ever said 
To me and feel reality’s hold on me fall away

Verse 3
You need a brandnew frame of mind without the cracks and the rust 
You’re kind of scared what you might find by wiping away the grime and the dust.
Try to assemble the pieces you have lost in a dream
And create something new you’ve never seen.

Chorus
You gotta
Get out of the day and face the bed
Pull the plug on the madness rampaging through your head
Just forget about the nice things noone’s ever said 
To you and feel reality’s hold on you fall away

Fall Away (demo)

A song about a really sad clown.

Lyrics:

CHORUS

All the balls come tumbling down.
One, by two, by three.

It bent, then broke:
That old oak tree.

Forever, you’ll be falling for me.

VERSE

Fell down to the ground she did,
Holding my heart, she slid…
…to the other side of life 
Where our God or the answer is.

I remember that day, so many times a day.
Like the tape we always flipped in the deck to play the same sad song on replay

Dying comes easy for trapeze artists,
I tied the wires for Marcus, forever marking my dark past.

My darkest act, a darker pact,
A road that once embarked upon,
You can’t turn back.
Can a heartless man have a heart attack? Yep

He files it back,
Until it’s that time,
Potters around the home, alone, until it’s nap time.

The lier tries not to cry and appreciate life,
But the home that sounds like his child still smells like his wife.


CHORUS

All aboard, roll up and sit down.
Don’t act like we’ve nowhere to be.

Bow down, fall at their feet.
The show now begins, take your seat


VERSE

Home is where the heart is
But mine’s with my dearly departed.

My search in the circus ended
The day that tara started.

And I could never predict that,
We both complained about the lion tamer
As you laughed and passed the spliff back.

I think that we fit that life
Life like bric-a-brac.

A high-top, a top hat,
A three legged man and a big cat:

All but stage dressings for you,
My high wire bride, before you fell, you flew.


CHORUS

All the balls come tumbling down.
One, by two, by three.

It bent, then broke:
That old oak tree.

Forever, you’ll be falling for me.