"I Know It's Over" is a song by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band the Smiths. Recorded in 1985, it is the third track on their third studio album '' The Queen Is Dead''.

Background

The instrumentation was written by

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

in summer 1985. Morrissey's vocal performance on this track is considered by many to be one of the finest of his career. The song was originally meant to have

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

on it during the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

at the end, but it was scrapped. 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. Marr once described witnessing Morrissey's vocal performance as "one of the highlights of my life".

Reception

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...

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.'" In 2017, Rob Sheffield of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' placed the song number three in his ranking of 73 songs by the Smiths. 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)."

Live performances

The song was performed 29 times by the Smiths, being played on every show on the UK leg of the Queen Is Dead tour besides the final one-off show. The song is featured on the 1988 live album '' Rank''.

Cover versions

The song was covered frequently in live shows by late American musician

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

, and a cover was recorded in 1995.

In popular culture

The song is used as a plot point in the film ''

500 Days of Summer ''500 Days of Summer'' (stylized as ''(500) Days of Summer'') is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, and produced by Mark Waters. The film stars ...

'', in which the protagonist (as a child) misinterprets the tongue-in-cheek lyrics of the song as genuine.

Personnel

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

– vocals *

– guitars * Andy Rourke – bass guitar * Mike Joyce – drums

References

{{Authority control 1986 songs Songs written by Morrissey Songs written by Johnny Marr The Smiths songs