Boyce and Hart wrote "I Wanna Be Free" for the Monkees before the group was even put together.

[5] Allmusic's Matthew Greenwald calls the song a "positively beautiful and wistful statement of teenage coming of age" and also praises its melody.

[5] Fellow Allmusic critic Tim Sendra finds the song "achingly sweet, even a little soulful in a very British way.

"[10] However, Digital Audio and Compact Disc Review magazine referred to the song as an "inconsequential teeny ballad.

[15] Jimmie Rodgers covered the song in 1968, in a recording that Billboard Magazine called "poignant ballad material...performed in first rate fashion.

Ed Ames covered the song on the album "Who will Answer" (1968) with studio vocalists and musicians.