I Know It's Over by Steven PatrickSummary This is a dark, perhaps morbid, but sensitive and intelligent song, which most critics consider to be the end of a fictitious or fantastic relationship. But the interpretation can be much deeper, even a bottomless pit for those prone to wallow in helplessness and suicidal thoughts. There are four distinct sections that are not entirely linked, leading to a variety of interpretations by connecting them, allowing the audience to project their own feelings onto the words. And yet, emotional intensity seems to produce elation[1] and not depression (perhaps more in performance than in poetry). Speculating about the meaning of lines (provided you don't overdo it) can lead to satisfying pleasure. Structure The first section describes our hero's immediate state of mind with the image of his empty bed like a tomb: Oh Mother, I can feel the earth falling. above my head and as I climb into an empty bed, well. Enough said. As if buried alive, the melancholy protagonist feels that his life might as well be over: I know it's over - I'm still hanging on/I don't know where I can go. Perhaps an intense relationship ended, leading to thoughts of despair and suicide, but this may be less obvious. He equates his imagined impending death with a feeling of utter helplessness, but it seems that death is not an option as he finds it difficult to act, as we will see. So although the sailor wants to take me/the knife wants to cut me, he doesn't seem to want to. He asks do you think you can help me? but from whom? His mother... middle of paper ...... states that love is natural and real: Is he afraid that for people like you and me, my love is not natural and imaginary? Themes Generally, for this writer, the themes are unrequited love, isolation, loneliness, helplessness, etc. Wildean themes may be present in the mind of the reader/listener. Indeed, the vagueness and general ambiguity, typical of this author, as well as the complexity of the structure allow a dichotomy of interpretations.------------------------ ----- --------------------------------------------[ 1] However, I recognize David Pinching, writing in his essay Oscar Wilde on the influence of Stephen Fry and Morrissey, when he says that "Wilde represents isolation in one's own world and a great set of theories about the things most irrelevant and most absurd."