It is a track from Diamond's 1976 album, Beautiful Noise, and was his third number 1 on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent two weeks.

[1] In Canada, the song reached number 19 on the pop singles chart[2] and hit number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

[3] Billboard described "If You Know What I Mean" as a "powerful ballad", stating that Diamond sings with more emotion than he had in the recent past, and also praised Robbie Robertson's production.

[4] Cash Box said that the song "has a couple of diverse, yet distinct musical moods" and that "the chorus, underscored by a first class string section, builds the song up to an emotional peak.

"[5] Diamond has stated that the song is a "tender recollection" of a relationship in his teens, in which he successfully seduced a significantly older woman.