[3] The lyrics describe one of Lennon's attitudes towards life, complaining about difficulties and the need to eat and love, commenting that sometimes things get so difficult he wants to stop trying;[4] he ultimately finds solace with his lover.

[4] The title phrase serves as a sexual double entendre when used in the portion of the song describing when the singer is with his lover and things are good.

[7] Rolling Stone critic David Fricke describes it as being "like 'Yer Blues' from The Beatles, with an ironed-out beat and hearty blasts of tenor saxophone".

[7] Music instructors Ben Urish and Ken Bielen describe "It's So Hard" as "enjoyable enough", claiming that it "makes its simple point without belabouring it".

[3] Author Robert Rodriguez calls it one of the "edgier tracks" on Imagine that forms the album's "real meat".

[13] Jackson calls it "a funny rant about life that anyone who hasn't slept enough, before another day at work, can make his or her own", adding that "as banal as it is, no one before had ever kvetched in such a humorous way about how hard it was just to function as a human being.