The seven truths of songwriting | Tom McRae | TEDxWhitehall
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- Published on Feb 23, 2018
- With wisdom and wit, acclaimed singer-songwriter Tom McRae shares his seven fundamental truths of songwriting. Includes performances of:
Lately's all I know;
Let me grow old with you;
Hoping against hope Tom McRae is a Mercury and Brit Award nominated singer-songwriter. He has released 8 critically acclaimed albums, as well as writing music for orchestras, and film and television. He has also written songs for artists as diverse as Nadine Coyle (Girls Aloud) and rock legend Marianne Faithfull. He is also a visiting professor at Leeds College of Music. Poet Simon Armitage has called him “one of our greatest living songwriters” while Neil McCormick, chief rock critic for The Telegraph says "McRae's mordant wit & dark romance might make him the perfect songwriter for these fucked up times.” Tom, however, rates his proudest achievement as being an answer on the BBC quiz show, Pointless. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
Very important to note. This is mostly lyrical writing. No hook, no real chorus or profound melody
Blake Shelton's little brother that got left in England on the family trip
😂😂😂
The first time I heard Tom.....I was gobsmacked; The guy is brilliant.
5:55 (1) Songwriting is Easy, 6:22 (2) It's Hard , 6:50 (3) You HAVE to finish the song, 10:32 (4) You have to destroy all the past artistic efforts, clean slate, 11:02 (5) Taste, Experience and Craft - pay no mind to them, they are not helpful, 11:30 (6) keep them in mind afterall 13:40 (7) Start, work and finish with HOPE
Starts at 00:00:55
No one needs to hear this
So funny. The guy seem to be so wise. And made me happy, there was none of the sticky pathetic self-hypnotizing masturbative voice which I already automatically expect nowadays in singing songs like this. Thank you
Ben Howard vibes! Awesome
such a great voice, awesome songs and charming guy. brought tears to my eyes.
This was the least valuable songwriting video I’ve seen yet on RU-clip.
Funny this was the most valuable one for me...
Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, two of the best to live up to. It's your own perception that will be your style. Finishing is important, but Hendrix never played a song live the same way twice, so there's some flexibility in what you call finished.
I write songs for a hobby and just recently discovered accidentally how powerful forcing myself to finish is! Loved these lessons from a pro.
lyrics saying alot
This guy really looks like Harvey Bullock from Gotham
He sounds like a older Stewie Griffin
He has an appealing voice and it all sounds real life
This guy is so corny
Why did I start crying at 20 sec left till the end? Really cool thankyou. Its gonna be ok
I dig this !!!
Love those songs!
super!
Writing songs is easy as he mentioned. But writing riff driven songs is more challenging. A good example of a riff driven song is Bad from Michael Jackson. These kind of songs are catchy and dont get out of our head. That's why most of them become hits. I mean it's not only about guitar riff. Riff can be created on any instrument even on computer.
I love this video so much and his music is incredible! The one thing that bothered me the entire time....His capo is upside down. Hahahaha!
But for real, this is great.
Your true fans don't forget you Tom and always check on RU-clip if there's anything new from you. stay in the niche of music for us, the ones that love true lyrics and true music. Don't ever stop making your beautiful music.
why arent u famous ♥️
fame isn't worth nearly what people think it is and the cost is more than most wanna pay.
D Cognit He is sooo good... i wanna write songs
Because life isn't fair. He is our Nick Drake.
If you dropped a stone down Tom's throat - you'd have your old physics textbook out trying to work out how deep he is after the pebble hits the bottom after an age.
Awesome TED Talk!
He sounds sooo much like the singer from REM (Steve or whatever his name is).
Mike Stipes
I want to be in a room with just this guy and I and write a song together.
beautiful voice.
We love this man for obvious reasons! A genius in our time! It's gonna be OK! X
Love McRae.... seen him loads of times and don't miss a show...amazing songs, great humour and solid fans. Never dissapointed.
The guy is an absolute legend and the best songwriter of the last 20 years, his gigs are spellbinding.
I've seen him live many many times. He is absolutely brilliant.
Fanloodytastic
It's gonna be okay.xx
I've seen him live twice and hopefully I'll get to see him many more times. For a guy who writes really dark and sad music he's surprisingly good at adding comedy to his gigs when he talks to the audience. Although he does seem to have a dark sense of humour. I cannot recommend enough that you go to a show of his if you get the chance.
mattrolandjim I was at the Union Chapel Gig as well with Tom, Ollie and Ollie, what a Beautiful Concert it was.
I was in the front row and I have seen Tom play the Chapel before.
Fingers crossed we get another Superb Album ASAP and another Wonderful Tour.
Tom McRea is the BEST. ❤️😊
Seconded, I cannot recommend this comment enough!
Seen the guy twice, once ages ago on my own and i promised myself then and there I'd always make the effort to go see him wherever i could. The guy wasn't always easy to follow and so i missed a few shows. It got to be a while before I got to see him again but I bought tickets for his recent union chapel gig in London. Even though me and the Mrs said we weren't gonna buy any more gig tickets that year. Truth be told between having underhandedly buying tickets, the Mrs' scepticism and it being in a church (seating room only) I started to wonder if it would live up to that now distant memory of the last time.
Suffice to say that it was amazing, the Mrs and I loved it, insane acoustics in that place, the three of them filled up the whole church with a torrent of beautiful sound. His lyrics allways get me, I always come away with 4-5 new songs to add to my play lists. The banter and audience participation are always spot on.
Amazing, he's such a great guy ❤
Good stuff, especially about getting things finished.