At the Concert for George tribute to Harrison, in November 2002, Jeff Lynne performed "Give Me Love" with Andy Fairweather-Low and Marc Mann playing the twin slide-guitar parts.

Marisa Monte, Dave Davies, Elliott Smith, Ron Sexsmith, Sting, James Taylor, Elton John, and Grace Vanderwaal are among the other artists who have covered the song.

[7] Author Andrew Grant Jackson writes that Harrison's frustration with this last issue resulted in a sombre quality pervading much of Material World, yet he "pushed his disillusionment aside for the lead single ['Give Me Love']".

[14][15] Author Simon Leng comments that the song repeats another of its composer's hit formulas, by using a three-syllable lyrical hook as its title, like "My Sweet Lord", "What Is Life" and "Bangla Desh".

[27][nb 1] Harrison also asks for divine assistance to "cope with this heavy load", while his stated attempt to "touch and reach you with heart and soul" recalls the same plea for a direct relationship with his deity that he expresses in "My Sweet Lord".

[21][36] Author Joshua Greene describes this as an example of a theme found in several songs on Material World, whereby Harrison "distilled" spiritual concepts into phrases "so elegant they resembled Vedic sutras: short codes that contain volumes of meaning".

[48][49] On "Give Me Love", Inglis notes the same "supple and clear [acoustic] guitar-playing that distinguished 'Here Comes the Sun'" in 1969,[25] while the less grand production, relative to All Things Must Pass, allowed greater expression for Harrison as a slide guitarist.

[46] The organ player on the song was American musician Gary Wright,[42] whose 1971 album Footprint was one of many musical projects in which Harrison was involved between All Things Must Pass and Material World.

[64] In his 1977 book The Beatles Forever, Nicholas Schaffner wrote that, because of the altruism inherent in the Bangladesh project compared to the twin "fiascos" of McCartney's Wild Life album and the Lennon–Ono collaboration Some Time in New York City, "[a] receptive audience was guaranteed" for Harrison's new songs.

[66] A variety of picture sleeves were available in European countries, including a design incorporating Harrison's signature and a red Om symbol,[71] both of which were aspects of Tom Wilkes's artwork for the Material World album.

[74][75] Repeating the feat of January 1971, when "My Sweet Lord" and All Things Must Pass sat atop the Billboard charts simultaneously, "Give Me Love" hit number 1 part-way through Material World's five-week stay at the top of the albums listings.

[79] For the week ending 30 June that year, the Harrison, McCartney and Preston songs were ranked numbers 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100,[80] marking the first time since 25 April 1964 that the Beatles occupied the top two positions on that chart.

[90] During the segment, Voormann discusses Harrison's practice of preparing the studio with incense to create a suitable environment, adding: "He really made it into a real tranquil, nice surrounding – everybody felt just great.

"[95] Billboard magazine's reviewer wrote: "Harrison's voice and sweet, country tinged guitar work within a rippling but controlled rhythm base, lends itself to this plea for human understanding.

[101][nb 9] In the NME, Tony Tyler derided Harrison for "lay[ing] the entire Krishna-the-Goat trip on us",[103][104] while Michael Watts of Melody Maker suggested that "Living in the Material World" might have been a better choice for the album's lead single.

[105] Writing in their 1975 book The Beatles: An Illustrated Record, Tyler and Roy Carr said that "Give Me Love" bore "more than a distant resemblance" to Dylan's "I Want You", but praised the track for its "excellent and highly idiosyncratic slide-guitar playing".

[106] Reviewing the song for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer highlights Harrison's guitar contribution to this "serene rocker" and likewise acknowledges Hopkins' "warm and soulful keyboard runs and fills".

[107][nb 10] Mojo contributor John Harris cites "Give Me Love" as evidence of Material World's standing as "something of a Hindu concept album … a pleasing fusion of Eastern religion, gospel, and the ghost of 'For You Blue'".

[110] Writing for Uncut, David Cavanagh considers the album to be a "utopian follow-up" to All Things Must Pass, on which "Give Me Love" "encapsulates the deal: simple message of hope, with gorgeous slide guitar … and fantastic rhythm section".

[46] Leng continues: "Living in the Material World could hardly have reveled in a stronger opening song ... A gorgeous ballad, awash with marvelously expressive guitar statements, 'Give Me Love' retains the emotional power of All Things Must Pass in a compelling three minutes.

"[20] In his Harrison obituary for The Guardian in December 2001,[113] former Melody Maker critic Chris Welch concluded with a reference to the track, saying that the ex-Beatle's "feelings and needs were best expressed in one of his simplest songs – 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)'".

[115] AOL Radio listeners voted the track fifth in a 2010 poll to find Harrison's best post-Beatles songs,[116] while Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock placed it fourth on a similar list that he compiled.

[118] David Fricke includes "Give Me Love" in his list of "25 essential Harrison performances" for Rolling Stone magazine, and describes it as "a soft, intimate hymn, a small-combo reaction to the Wagnerian spectacle of All Things Must Pass".

[136] Lindsay Planer writes that two covers of the song "worth noting" are a version by Bob Koenig, issued on his Prose & Icons album in 1996, and one by Brazilian singer Marisa Monte from the same year.

[142] In what Planer describes as a "stirring reading",[19] Jeff Lynne performed the song at the Concert for George on 29 November 2002, held at the Royal Albert Hall exactly a year after Harrison's death.

[149] Canadian singer Ron Sexsmith has included the song in his live performances; a version by him appeared on Harrison Covered,[150] a tribute CD accompanying the November 2011 issue of Mojo magazine.