Sappy - Smart Sessions

This early Nirvana song was written by Kurt Cobain in 1988 and first performed at some of their live shows in 1989, but they had a hard time recording a version they were happy with. They tried recording it at Sound City Studios in 1991 during the Nevermind sessions, but it didn't make the cut. They tried again in 1993 for the In Utero album; this time they liked the results but decided to leave it off the album and give it to charity: They donated it to an AIDS-awareness group called The Red Hot Organization, which released various compilations under the "Red Hot" banner. "Sappy" appeared on their 1993 compilation No Alternative under the title "Verse, Chorus, Verse." It showed up as "Sappy" - as the song was best known - on the With The Lights Out boxed set in 2004.

Kurt Cobain never explained the lyric inspiration, but it sounds like he's addressing a girl who won't leave a boyfriend who is holding her back. The word "sappy" never appears in the lyric, but "happy" does ("you'll think you're happy now"), implying that the happiness she claims isn't real, and might actually be sadness.