So many mad artists on this thread! Lesson 1: Balance Story and Emotion Lesson 2: Look for a fresh angle on a familiar topic. Lesson 3: Write from what you know.

A positive comment for a positive guy. He does what he loves, which is the ultimate success.

I don't understand people ripping him for his voice. He's a songwriter, not a singer. Duh

Thank you Cliff! Your passion for songwriting really shines through. I've been writing songs for 15 years cause I can't help it. I appreciate your insight and sharing your gifts.

Good advice! This gentleman is truly professional and talented. For those being rude and hateful about this video..please post your work so we can judge it. Otherwise, take the advice and improve and encourage other songwriters.

If you know anything about songwriting you can plainly see we can and should take ideas from who or wherever we can...Great job Cliff...

advice from experience, never turn down free advice, take what you can use, build your skills and have many. learn all the mechanics from a to z and keep learning and practicing. it never stops.

What a beautiful and inspiring person and wonderful songwriter!

Hey people this man MAKES A LIVING WRITING .....NUFF SAID

Wowza! The good news is that if you ever get tired of the songwriting biz.....you've got a stand-up comedy career waiting in the wings as your back up plan. Just watched this twice and actually learned something about making tunes. You totally crushed it! Congrats, Juan Patino

I love this video of you Cliff. It really shows just who you are and you shine. Thank you so much for all the hard work you do for all of us. I feel so fortunate to have found you and Nashville Studio Live for my music!

He speaks only about the lyrical content .... but there's another dimension, THE MUSIC!!

The balance between our emotions and lyrics is perhaps the most important and difficult rule

I am just commenting to Cliff. Thank you I enjoyed the video. You are very delightful to listen to. Quite talented, and very helpful. A pleasure.

I hear a little bit of Jonathan Richman here. And yes, he's a songwriter, in the old, classic Tin Pan Alley or Brill Street sense. A lot of the songs you love have been written by people who are no more talented as performers than, or who are even less talented as performers than, this guy.

Love Cliff! This is so great :)

Beautiful! Thanks❤️

taking the emotion out of music leaves it lifeless

Thanks for this clip. I have been stuck in my creativity. This reminded me what i have been forgetting in the process of writing one song after another.

great video and some great points. Thanks from a song writer

Right on brother and write on!

inspiring ❤

The third one is the nice guy anthem

the guy still non the less put together great four universal tips to writing songs. every song writer has their way for gods sake. but these can work for everyone. chill with mean comments.

Working within parameters and light limits is great, but when you apply the same formula to each song, they all tend to sound the same. Songwriting is discovery, of what kinds of lyrics and sounds can be sculpted by different ratios of emotion and story and other elements of song. Everybody has their own sound.

Amazing video! Great songs! Thank you so much for the tips!

Excellent 😁

Dont get you guys here . The guy is a Songwriter which means he writes songs. The lyrics and the angles that he shows so easy are glimpses of what hardships he‘s been through . Means he sticks to it and thats what count in music. P.s.very nice songs and insight.thank you

Good stuff Cliff :)

Heartwarming, poignant and truthful. Thank you for this

great talk, simple but important message, somehow whooshed over many peoples heads judging from what the comment section is raving about.

I really liked the song, I would legit add some of these to my playlist!

i like that last point he shares🕵️🥀and also its a great deal come on....follow ur passion✨🥀🔥

Really cool!!!

Excellent. Really tongue in cheek but very sound advice. What is music these days? A commodity which is really awful. Hail to all songwriters. You guys are the best.

awesome

He got paid and still getting paid so im pretty sure he doesn't care what negative snakes have to say

This guys interesting take on a love song.... about it being hard to write a love song that isn't generic and has something new to say... is the exact premise of a John Entwistle song "Its Hard to Write a Love Song" much better than what he's got.

Your amazing i enjoy your spirit

What a power dork!

If this is where 25 years of Songwriting gets you, I'm gonna jump

Singing the nice guy needy blues...!

Good songs for movies. Scores !

dude all of these comments are so mean! this guy would be a PERFECT stand up comedian.. not a cool, good musician from what i have seen. he likes music.. he has heady lyrics.. yeah.. stand up comedian using music.. 100% fit for this guy.

When the guy who brings his acoustic to a house party gets a ted talk

Thanks.

Yes I have a few questions on writing

I write songs too Only 50---

okay, but...the lyrics he wrote say EXACTLY what he said would be too much emotion. Like almost freaking verbatim. How did this guy get a Ted spot? Can I have one? I can do the same thing.

"Give here to me"

Not surprising he's worked with Kesha....

This dude's musical dream is to open for Randy Newman.

I started writing songs only because something was telling me to and they just keep coming one after another where they come from I can only guess but it’s like it chose me not me had chosen it

Last song was actually pretty good!

awesome video I am inspired ☺💕

Awesome ! Would like your help.

Some good advice,those snippets sadly demonstrate mediocrity of the craft and that's being kind.

I think people are confusing performing with songwriting. He's not that spectacular vocally or on the guitar but the "songs" are pretty solid

He should stick to driving fast cars in fast and furious.

In my official capacity as some guy on the internet I'm going to say yeah, this is good advice, but it won't help you if you're like me. You sit at a computer with a guitar thinking "I need a familiar topic and a fresh angle.. hmmmm... *strums a G & a D chord for 10 minutes and gives up*" If you're like me, go start by searching for "Why is writing so hard?" and watch Damien Walter's video. So what he's saying is, you need to do creative writing exercises. Fortunately I have Pat Pattison's Songwriting without Boundaries. Buy that book. Google him. Watch his videos. Excellent resource. I'm developing a method of subtle theft and mining. Take notes. If a song has a nice little metaphor or a turn of phrase, write it down. Re-write it in your own words. Steal the rhythm for your notes. Write song fragments - don't try to write full songs - you're just doing the research. Then, when you sit down with the guitar and you think "what should I write?" Open the notebook or the google doc with all your fragments. You'll forget where they came from and they'll be brand-new. Get creative. Re-write stuff, sing it out. Remix. Recycle. Play. You'll find yourself naturally doing what this guy says. Also, songs don't need to mean anything until they're written, or the thing you started with. The meaning of the song can change mid-sentence. If you do it right, it'll feel like you didn't write the song yourself. Write bad things intentionally. Write good things by accident. Time yourself writing. 5 minutes of free association about a lampost or a flower pot. Stop as soon as the timer goes off.

i saw this guy in .sucess of songwriting channel. i. live interview👹😲

His advice is good but his lyrics aren't.

this is what u learned in 25 years? dude, u r a genius!!!

So they managed to rip off Kesha? Or did Kesha rip off them? I'm too lazy to find out, so used to it now 😭

Some people at 6:40 not finding that joke particularly funny...

sorry what was you billboard charting single - surely not one of the examples played here. might lend this some street cred to know what you've actually achieved. examples here are a little soft

You had an opportunity to teach, speak, pass on experience.... and ya sang.... we call this a missed opportunity or a complete waste of time. Both apply.

YEAH GREAT! XXXMISTYCELT SINGER SONGWRITER UK:)

I was expecting better tbh...

Wow this isn't Neil Young? This isn't Neil Young at all? I demand my money back.. That's it! I'm writing a letter!

Those who can... DO and those who can't... TEACH.

Started my own songwriting tutorial series on my channel. Best advice I could give to anyone whether it's songwriting, music production, composition, and even improvisation: Analyze/Transcribe/Recreate your favorite pieces of music. It's as simple as that.

Lyrics are not that important, melody is key just listen to k pop.. or french pop music most people dont know wth they are saying but still bang foreign speaking songs thnks 2 rhythm, harmonic structure and melody,

z zz z

So bad musically and lyrically even worse!

His songwriting is very generic, he’s very lucky he has a platform to perform. I know a lot of songwriters better at both singing and writing who would kill for that stage. It’s a shame how privilege even affects us in the creative industry. It’s not about what you sing or play it’s how much $$$$’s you got for lessons and co writers

cliff.... about your moves..... they're weak.

ted talks should just stop trying to explain music

boring

I'm getting a degree in music composition. These people don't know nothing about writing music.

Nonsense what has this man ever written that people would BUY ?? trouble with using a Joke as the Theme Once its been heard thats it, Too much Dissonance in his melodies, Nothing hits one between the eyes its just drivel you can hear from any cafe amateur, who believes he is a musical genius ; Billboard Jazz Charts ???? say no more

25 years composing and you compose like that? sorry dude but this sucks. I mean it's very mediocre. Maybe try getting a band and singing about other fellings? like anger, agony, oppression, euforia, depression...

This guy is actually delusional.

The music couldn't be more old-fashioned, boring and unsurprising. Why care for the lyrics then? People who can't write interesting, fresh music should write poems.

For 25 years he's not that good

The first three songs were basically comedy songs. Quite embarrassing really. I'll stick with my Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Paul Simon. Nothing to learn from here.

Terrible voice. Sure doesn't help...

Hey dude, practice what ou preach, get a band to play the song, pay the guys to make you sound better.

His lyrics are just misogynistic "give her to me", yeah he thinks it's a punchline but really it's just removing all agency from the woman. "I'm the nicest guy you ever knew" classic whining of a man who thinks he's entitled to something just because he's Mr nice guy.