[citation needed] "If Only I Could" was released on vinyl, audio cassette and compact disc in July 1989 as the lead single from Youngblood's debut album, Feeling Free (1989).

[5] Upon the release, Larry Flick from Billboard noted that the "rich-voiced crooner temporarily moves away from usual R&B arena and pumps up the bass for this tasty, deep-baked houser that splashes with a nifty Motown-flavored undercurrent and funky wah-wah guitars.

"[7] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Finally, Youngblood has found a song good enough to take his smooth, sweet voice to the higher reaches of the charts.

"[8] David Giles from Music Week noted the song's "lush, sonorous vocal driven by a pulsating bass line", and concluded that "Youngblood looks set to become a big name on the strength of this single.

[12] In the same magazine, the extended version reviewed by James Hamilton is called a "jauntily chugging 120 bpm bubbly bouncer helped in the current climate by tinkling flamenco-ish guitar and chimes (two instrumental mixes too)".

Australian recording artist Wendy Matthews released a version of the song in April 1993 as the third single from her second studio album, Lily.