Don't wince – it works brilliantly." Wayne Hoffman of "Billboard" also chose the song as a highlight, calling it "gentler". Robert Christgau also highlighted the track, writing: "Broken heart often spurs killer hooks, fond memories occasionally engender likable songs," citing "Must Get Out" as an example. Jason Thompson of "PopMatters" noted that Jesse Carmichael manages to conjure The New Radicals on the song, claiming that it is one of the "plenty of things [on the album] that could be hits." Meanwhile, Christian Hoard of "Rolling Stone" called it a "pretty, down-tempo" song that "sound[s] poised to mount an assault on [John] Mayer's college fan base." While not as successful as the other singles from the album, "Must Get Out" experienced moderate success in some European countries. In Netherlands, the song proved to be one of the band's most successful singles from the album, only behind "This Love" and "She Will Be Loved", reaching number 8 and becoming the band's third top-ten hit. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, the song became another top-forty hit for the band, reaching numbers 34 and 39, respectively – in the UK in particular, the song was the band's fifth consecutive top 40 single. Likewise, in New Zealand the song was their fifth top-forty single, though their least successful single on the charts, along with "Misery" (2010). Maroon 5 performed the track during their AOL Sessions, at the "Top of the Pops" and included the song on the 2005's CD/DVD "Live – Friday the 13th". They performed the song on "The Today Show" on February 4, 2005. It was part of the encore on the "Songs About Jane Tour" and was last performed on the 2005 Honda Civic Tour.