rock journalist paul du noyer notes the irony that although the lyrics contain the line "nothing doin' nowhere," in a creative sense there was more going on here and throughout the "walls and bridges" album than on lennon's recordings in recent happier times. author john blaney notes that the song is "as raw and honest as anything [lennon had] written," adding that lennon was often at his best creatively when dealing with difficulties. madinger and easter call it a "terrific lp opener."