rush's "the enemy within" helped me decide to leave my life in america behind for what turned out to be a decade and go to japan.

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I've always played a sort of game with myself whereby when life turns to dog shit, usually as a result of an emotional upset, I make up a soundtrack to go with how I feel and how I'm going to get thru. It's good fun and very therapeutic.

When I separated from my wife, there wasn't much emotional drag to be honest but she did try and damage the relationship I had with my daughters as well as trying to nail me financially, so a few songs that went on the 'Album' were

She Fucking Hates Me
Won't Back Down
Long Way Back From Hell
So Long As I Can See The Light
Ain't No Pleasing You
I'm Free

I don't know about changing my mind but my family were Cockneys from the East end of London, Isle of Dogs and my earliest memories are in the fifties - One of my uncles was having an affair with someone not his wife and at all the family 'knees-ups' the women would sing at him "who is sorry now - whose heart is aching from breaking each vow whose sad adn blue whose crying too just like she cried over you ......etc. (the men never sang back) It used to affect me quie a lot as a child because of how the mood changed one minute they were dancing and laughing and then it got all melancholy and serious.

Someone Like You by Van Morrison always makes me hopeful.

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam. At around the age of five or six it made no sense and I felt a revulsion to Christian songs from there on.

This is one of my favourites..

Nope... but a college friend on a concert on mescaline or acid did two interesting things... at a certain patriotic song (and usa is not the only Patria on Earth) turn to me and told me "that's it, this song did it, I am going into politics..." meaning, no more drugs and joining the communist party. He was Serious. The other thing he did at a romantic song he stood up and started yelling the name of a pretty girl we met like in the ticketline an hour before. He was Serious too. I was Mellowed out like always and my girlfriend was with me. I write songs and poems... a song to a woman often means I must have her or I am tired of having her. Do not really change my mind, they may validate what's on my mind... my heart never been broken so when/if it happens... it is going to be Fun for sure. I can see me doing a lot of writing.

At a time when I felt like the world was out to get me, I remembered...

I was feeling very suicidal one day, just crying for a very long time and my brain was just in scrambles and, thankfully I had music playing, Knee Deep by the Zac Brown Band came on and it’s like everything just slowed down and the tears stopped and I just felt okay. I played it on repeat until I was lip singing in the mirror and I’ve convinced myself that if that song hadn’t played I probably would’ve finished the job.

"This Ol' Cowboy", by the Marshall Tucker Band was my personal theme song in the first months after my divorce. Kept me sane and positive. Plus, it's catchy.

Every now and then I hear a love song that makes me feel lonely and wanting, then I snap out of it because I have been on my own for so long I probably wouldn't want someone coming in and messing up my life, lol. I do really miss companionship tho.....

Strength, Courage, & Wisdom by India Arie. I had be stagnating, just going through the motions day to day about 4 years after I had been widowed. This song kind of jolted me out of my fog and helped me start living again.

I was religious at the time so the references to faith in my mind meant faith in god. Now I see it as faith in myself, and my own resilience.

I grew up hearing nothing but old time blue grass, pop country and gospel. Once I discovered rock and my own tastes via the Internet, I hated the twangy way country folks sang, despite being one. Couldn’t stand anyone singing with a southern accent. Two albums changed my mind about bluegrass and country tinged music in general: Unit of Measure by Tony Rice & David Grisman - an instrumental spacey jazz infused version of bluegrass dubbed space grass, really mesmerized me with the tonal beauty of acoustic flatpicking. And Doc Watson & Frosty Morn’s album Round the Table Again showed me that country folks could harmonize and cover pop music and not always sound like Ralph Stanley needs some flo-naze. After hearing those, and somewhat the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou, I started diving into Johnny Cash and Hank Sr, all the outlaw country artists before it became hick pop stars in the 80s and 90s. Country, Bluegrass and Old time folk music is fantastic if you find the real shit. Same goes for Rap, pop rock, metal, anything that a lot of people say they can’t stand. They just haven’t heard the authentic side of it that’s relatable and relevant to them yet. Keep lookin with an open mind and open ears, it’s out there.

Its a verse from an old sage that brings your attention to the moment not your baggage. Nirvana Sathakam by Sankaracharya. It is on Youtube. Look for simple version with no video just translation and sung in soothing voice not enacted, there are several videos. Its in Sanskrit with an explanation and translation. You might think it is religious brianwashing. But, I am not religious. It helped me a lot to cope with day to day life and live in NOW
Perhaps its too serious. I love Jazz.

Not a song, per se, but from time to time, I'll hear an acoustic piece that reminds me of what's missing in my aural diet and I have to binge on George Winston, Acoustic Alchemy, Craig Chaquico, and others for a while.

Someone to Lean On - made me realize that I needed to trust in other people for mutual help and understanding.

Not s song but a piece of Music that was played to me as a teenager..Mozart's Requiem in D minor.

It was a gateway into a previously unknown world of classical music..this led to Bach..and so on..

I can say with absolute certainty that this one piece of Music opened up a new world to me and for this reason changed my life for the better.

Well, it wouldn't really be called changing my mind.
But for a decade'ish I was playing guitar in a bunch of metal bands.
And one day an old friend of mine that I had not seen in a while came by and had a Spanish guitar with him and he played some for me, and turned me on to some other artists that played the same.It' was just so festive.
That changed my life. I was so hooked that I went out and bought a Spanish guitar. Been writing and recording that kind of music ever since.

We get together with a few others we know that play as well, and have a great time playing together.

The simple answer is no, the long answer is that changes in my mind and view point came from all experiences and information from many many sources and I suspect that the protest folk music I listened to when I was young had at least a little influence.

There is a piece of music in the series Star Blazers(Space Battleship Yamato). It's a haunting woman singing it. It helps with calming down and giving hope