We’ve been receiving dozens of stories from people coast to coast about the transformative power of music. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we are publishing a story every day in May.

Submitted by: Rick Springfield (Facebook, Twitter)

When I was a young, difficult and dark teenager I was a loner at high school. Dealing with a disease I had no name for (but was later identified as depression) I remember walking around the schoolyard at lunchtime by myself when all the other kids were in their groups and cliques and I would sing a Cliff Richard song in my head called “Left out again.” It was a love song about a guy not getting the girl (I guess a theme I would rewrite later in my musical career) but at that time in my life the song gave me comfort. I felt alone but if my favorite singer at the time, felt that way too then maybe things weren’t so bad.

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