Focus: If you had to pick one song and one book to show someone what would they be? Book: My autographed copy of this Song: It would be the February 1980 soundboard bootleg version of this, because the badass Taurus bass pedals are so perfectly rumbly it will make your fillings fall out and I could (and have) just listen to 3:16 - 5:49 over and over again
Book <a class="postlink" href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/falilv.jpg/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/falilv.jpg/</a> Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson Song Classics, and for a damn good reason.
The book would have to be Sperm Wars. Our sexuality is evolving through our entire life, but how many average Joes can tell you why? Plus, a lot of people have fucked up whole swathes of their lives because of poor decisions in the sack, I feel that wouldn't be quite so common if people had a basic understanding of some of the instinctual drives behind those choices.
From the top of my head, from back in my day: song - Higher Ground (first heard RHCP version though Stevie´s is better); book - I second any Calvin and Hobbes collection. On a side note, not everything is lost. Last week me and the wife went to a Paul McCartney concert and had to leave a very disheartned five year old daugther at home. She really wanted to see a "real Beatle" playing Seargent Pepper´s and Yellow Submarine´s songs.
Book: The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. Every single tv/movie adaptation of this has infuriated me within the first five minutes of watching it. Song: hmm....off the top of my head...anything Wagner or Schubert...ah, here's a specific(non-classical) one: Pharaoh's Dance by Miles Davis.
The Beatles - Come Together And Brave New World - Aldous Huxley probably share the most influence over things that I like the most. If we're talking about not being a shithead and knowing where awesome things came from, those would be my 'you must experience these things!' leaders. But fuck it's hard to limit to one of each. Not mentioning Leonard Cohen / Bob Dylan / ACDC / Queen / The Pixies or Charles Bukowski or Chuck Pahlaniuk or Tolkien or Fritz Lieber or Neal Stephenson or William Gibson or Philip K Dick or Robert Heinelen or Terry Pratchett so many fucking others in this kind of list feels brutal to the poor fuck who's not being told about the amazing things that they MUST know to be a well rounded human being..
This song just makes me remember that life is beautiful, short and incredible. Book: Jurassic Park. As a kid, no other book made me want to keep reading as much as this one did. It inspired a curiosity that made my life so much better. It also made me realize the power of science. Plus, dinosaurs are fucking cool.
Chellie brings up a good point. "Sperm Wars" made me realize why guys like porn/sex scenes more than women. I would also recommend "The Naked Ape" by Desmond Morris.
Musical Piece: Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas