After Tim McGraw picked up his CMT Music Award for video of the year on Wednesday (June 8) night, we had a chance to talk backstage about the winning “Humble and Kind” video.

And all those that came before it.

Like his very first video from 1993, “Welcome to the Club.”

He’s learned a lot since that one, he told me.

“The first lesson I learned is not to put any political signs in your video,” he laughed, referring to the “Vote for Clinton” sign that makes a split-second appearance. “But you really just learn to relax a little bit. You learn that you’re privileged to have a forum to speak, and to use that wisely.”

His “Humble and Kind” video is proof that he is still using that forum wisely.

“After doing videos for so long, and then losing Sherman Halsey, who’d been my right-hand guy making videos for so many years -- it’s tough now to come up with an idea for a video,” he admitted.

McGraw’s goal this time was to reflect the universal appeal of the song and its message.

“We’re all so much closer now than we used to be, because of technology,” he said. “And I think sometimes we forget that at the core of humanity, we’re really all the same. We all want the same things out of life. No matter what your station in life is, no matter what your culture is, and no matter what your belief system is, because everyone’s got one. You want to love and be loved, you want to need and be needed, and you want your kids to have best opportunities they possibly can."