Although critical reception of the song upon the release of the album was generally positive, it was not considered a strong single. At the time of album release, Spin's Josh Modell received the song well, saying that it defeated "cheesiness with unabashed sincerity". Rolling Stone called it dreamy, whereas Contactmusic called it bland and forgettable. PopMatters' Ross Langager praised the song's chorus, calling it "beautiful, with its pitch-perfect image of separation by an ocean". He also wrote that the song was the ""Chasing Cars" moment of the album, if there was one".
