Apart from the single's success, a portion of the band's fans have dismissed the tune, arguing that it does not represent the Doors sound, due to its commercial nature and shallow lyrics.

[6] The lyrics were inspired by a young black girl whom Jim Morrison saw at Venice Beach: "Do you hope to pluck this dusky jewel?".

[6] Both the single and Waiting for the Sun liner notes list the song as a group composition; the performance rights organization ASCAP shows the writers as each of the individual Doors members.

[8] In the liner notes to The Doors: Box Set, Robby Krieger denied allegations that the song's musical structure was stolen from Ray Davies, where a riff similar to it is featured in the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night".

[6][9] But Davies commented in a 2012 interview with Mojo magazine: The funniest thing was when my publisher came to me on tour and said the Doors had used the riff for "All Day and All of the Night" for "Hello, I Love You".

[11] Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek admitted in an interview with Musician magazine that it was "a lot like a Kinks song.

This release, along with the Rascals' hit song, "A Beautiful Morning", are credited with initiating the industry changeover to stereo recordings as the norm for 45 rpm singles.