Author David Wild interviewed Diamond for a 2008 book and he discussed how his efforts to channel Lenny Bruce evoked such intense emotions that it led him to spend some time in therapy.

I Said" has generally been positive, with Rolling Stone calling its lyric excellent in a 1972 review,[8] while The New Yorker used it to exemplify Diamond's songwriting opaqueness in a 2006 retrospective.

"[10] Record World said "Personal number does Descartes' 'I think therefore I am' one better and Neil's philosophy always makes the charts"[11] A 2008 Diamond profile in The Daily Telegraph simply referred to the song's "raging existential angst,"[12] and Allmusic calls it "an impassioned statement of emotional turmoil... very much in tune with the confessional singer/songwriter movement of the time.

[8] It has also been included in live versions on Diamond's Hot August Night (from 1972, in a performance that Rolling Stone would later label "fantastically overwrought"[26]).

[citation needed] Brooke White performed the song on American Idol's seventh season during its Neil Diamond week,[27] changing the lyric to replace New York City with her home state of Arizona.

[27] Among the foreign versions are the Italian language "La casa degli angeli" ("House of the angels"), performed by Caterina Caselli in 1971's album "Una grande emozione" ("A great emotion"),[28] and by Dutchman Jan Rot on his 2008 album Hallelujah as "Zeg God... zeg ik", taking the title as someone who curses, while the Jewish word for God means 'I am'.

The Brazilian singer Diana recorded the song as "Porque Brigamos" ("Why we argue") in 1972, with lyrics written by the composer and producer Rossini Pinto.

Country artist Billy Ray Cyrus released a version of the song on his 2020 EP "Singin Hills Sessions Volume 1".