Ramona DeRyan
From San Diego (Paralegal)
I sing so many songs that would work for an answer. There’s a Fred Astaire song, but nobody would know that. Maybe I’ll pick “No Regrets” by Billie Holliday, which most people probably don’t know either. I like the song. It swings. It has lyrics about somebody looking good to you and loving what you had but not having any regrets.
Billy Russell
From Pacific Beach (Doorman)
My choice would be “Night Swimming” by REM. I’m from Athens, and we used to see Michael Stipe at parties. He also supported the local music scene. He was kind of quiet and shy. I did once knock a beer out of his hand. This song was about how the bars close at midnight, and everyone is looking for something to do. The water would be 85 degrees, and people would go skinny dipping. The song has other lyrics in it I like and is really bittersweet.
Dan Feldman
From Bay Park (Teacher)
The song “Lucky Man.” Not the one by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. I can’t think of the group that does it. Maybe Tonic, I’m not sure. It was used in a movie, too. I can’t remember that either. I’m bad with actors and titles of things like that. The song mentions good things and bad things you face. There are lyrics in the song I think are great. One line about all the love you need is in your head. Or maybe it’s in your heart.
Jim Stewart
From Hillcrest (Real Estate Consultant)
I would say “Right by Your Side” by the Eurythmics. That song got me hooked on them. It has a Caribbean beat…or maybe it’s South African or Norwegian. It’s Caribbean to me. I had heard a few of their songs before that one, but I just loved that track. Annie Lennox solo is good. She’s a lot more introspective with her lyrics than all the instruments of the band.
Josh Snyder
From Hillcrest (Social Worker)
"I Don’t Want to Grow Up” by Tom Waits. I collected records and would buy them really cheap in the early ’90s. Usually I paid around $3 a piece. And I got a lot. And I just loved Waits’s stuff. He progressed a bit, but with that song, it’s where I was in my life — carefree. It’s the opposite of the stuff in the beginning.
Kamila Rakhimora
From Mission Valley (Graduate Student)
It would be that song played at the end of Tropic Thunder when Tom Cruise is dancing. It’s a hip-hop song about being a player. I guess I identify with it because I’m always rolling, whatever the game is.