Songfacts®:

• In this song, Nick Lowe is acknowledging the unpredictability (and, sometimes, futility) of life and the inevitability of death. "So it goes" is a recurring line in Kurt Vonnegut's 1969 novel, The Slaughterhouse Five. It is used every time a death occurs.
• This was Lowe's first solo single following the split of the pub rock band, Brinsley Schwarz. It was also the first single to be released on Stiff Records, a label formed by the music managers, Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman, using a £400 ($645) loan from Dr. Feelgood front man, Lee Brilleaux. Stiff Records paid Lowe £45 ($73) to record two songs with The Rumour drummer, Steve Goulding. The result was this song and its b-side, "Heart of the City." Although "So It Goes" failed to chart, it still earned a profit for the young Stiff Records.
• This features in the 1979 musical comedy, Rock 'n' Roll High School, starring The Ramones.
• Lowe told KLRU that Steely Dan influenced this song: "It's not my favourite, it's a bit too much like Steely Dan. I think I must have got it from something they'd done."
• Jesus of Cool was Lowe's debut solo album. So to not cause offense, the American release was re-titled Pure Pop for Now People. The iconic album cover features six images of Lowe dressed in a variety of exaggerated rock star costumes.