I Know It's Over

The song was originally meant to have trumpet on it during the refrain at the end, but it was scrapped.

[2] In the book Songs That Saved Your Life, Simon Goddard explains that Morrissey did not show his bandmates the lyric until the instrumental track was entirely finished.

[2] Simon Reynolds of Pitchfork wrote "The writing in 'I Know It’s Over' is a tour de force, from the opening image of the empty—sexless, loveless—bed as a grave, through the suicidal inversions of 'The sea wants to take me/The knife wants to slit me,' onto the self-lacerations of 'If you’re so funny, then why are you on your own tonight?'

and finally the unexpected and amazing grace of 'It’s so easy to hate/It takes strength to be gentle and kind.

[4] More negatively, Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone wrote that "As expected, Morrissey dons his misery-goat costume for "I Know It’s Over" and "Never Had No One Ever" (except for Mom, natch).