Songwriter: Kurt Cobain
Writing Period: 1988
Recording Session: 23/01/88, Reciprocal Recordings, Seattle, WA
Common Mislabels: The Extreme - I Can't Live - Token Middle Eastern Song - Token Eastern Song - Happy Hour - Happy Tour - I Can Live - Pen Cop Chew Take 2 - Unknown
Kurt really hated this song, which is probably why it wasn't released. It seems that there have been some confusion between this song and Token Eastern Song.
In a letter to Dale Crover, published in Kurt Cobain's Journals, Kurt elaborates on why he hates 'If You Must':
"The first song on the demo is no longer played it is sickening and dumb. Destroy it, it is evil. In the likes of Whitesnake and bon jovi." - Journals, page 2
The studio session from which this live track is extracted was circulating amongst traders prior to the release of the boxset.
from Disc 1 of "With the Lights Out"
Lyrics
I can read, I can write
I can breed, proven plight
Nurse my greed, crease infold
Is it me, or my ego?
Write some words, make them rhyme
Thesis or storyline
Set the mood, something new
Is it me, or my attitude?
If you want to put off an image
The extremes, the extremes
Act it out, practicing,
Perfecting, pressuring
On to me, on to me, on to me
I will wait in a phylum
To explain your asylum
I am tired analyzing
We've compared all our sizings
You must
I speak to hear my voice
I can read, I can write
I can breed, proven plight
Nurse my greed, crease infold
Is it me, or my ego?
Write some words, make them rhyme
Thesis or storyline
Set the mood, something new
Is it me, or my attitude?
If you want to put off an image
The extremes, the extremes
Act it out, practicing,
Perfecting, pressuring
On to me, on to me, on to me
On to me, on to me, on to me, on to me
