Unlike the other members of the Byrds, Clarke was not a prolific songwriter. His compositional contributions with the band encompass co-writing credits for the songs "Captain Soul", an instrumental from the "Fifth Dimension" album (based on Lee Dorsey's "Get Out Of My Life, Woman"), and "Artificial Energy" from "The Notorious Byrd Brothers". He was also given an arrangement co-credit for two traditional songs that appeared on "Fifth Dimension": "Wild Mountain Thyme" and "John Riley" (although the latter is credited to Bob Gibson and songwriter/arranger Ricky Neff on the album itself).