Released October 26, 1993 Length 3:24 Writer(s) Kurt Cobain | Genre Grunge Label Arista Records | |
Recorded February 1993 at Pachyderm Studios, Cannon Falls, Minnesota | ||
"Sappy" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It was first released as a hidden track on the 1993 AIDS-benefit compilation album No Alternative. At the time the song was credited by the title "Verse Chorus Verse", which happens to be the title of an earlier, different Nirvana song that had been scrapped. The same 1993 recording, under the song's original title of "Sappy", also appears on the Nirvana rarities box set With the Lights Out, released in 2004.
Contents
History
Originally recorded under the working title "Sad", "Sappy" dates back to at least 1987, and was recorded several times in the studio. The song's writer Kurt Cobain was said to never be completely satisfied with any version of it. It was recorded in many different keys and the lyrics changed over the years. The final version was recorded by Steve Albini at Pachyderm Studios in 1993 during the In Utero sessions and released as the final, unlisted track on the No Alternative compilation. The song was apparently renamed "Verse Chorus Verse" around this time, but since this title is shared by an earlier, scrapped Nirvana song, it is usually called "Sappy" in order to avoid confusion.
Although "Sappy" was released as an extra hidden track on No Alternative, word of Nirvana's appearance on the disc spread, and soon many people bought the album simply for the hidden track, eventually becoming a frequently requested song at concerts during the band's 1994 tour of Europe and being played live for the first time in nearly four years. The final live performance of the song was at a February 1994 concert in Milan, Italy. At the concert the audience kept requesting the song; bassist Krist Novoselic, after performing it, said to the crowd, "Did you hear it on a bootleg? Because it wasn't listed on the album."