"[5]McEwan refutes the notion that there was a deliberate political subtext to the song and instead insists their primary aim was simply to write something 'heartfelt'.

Matt C. of Engine 145, a country music blog, gave the song a "thumbs up" review, calling it one of the best performances of Underwood's in an album that otherwise contained "bombastic vocals".

[4] Although he said that the first verse was written in a convoluted fashion ("a swing and a miss by the writers"), he also thought that Underwood's vocal performance compensated enough to make the song viable.

[7] Billboard gave it a positive review as well: "The fourth single from Carrie Underwood's double-platinum Carnival Ride finds the singer charting new territory.

Previous singles have stuck to a similar lyrical theme, contrasting between Underwood's girl-next-door image with inspirational or family-centered songs… 'Just a Dream' delivers the heartbreaking, storytelling side of Nashville with the kind of song usually reserved for vets like one of her idols Reba McEntire or Martina McBride.

Underwood convincingly sells the story of a young widow of a soldier killed in combat, using shades of her emotive vocal to convey anger and despair.

It begins with Underwood sitting with her boyfriend Jonathan Roberts, played by Jeff Kasser, an officer in the military, in a car listening to Eddy Arnold's "Make the World Go Away", and trying not to talk about the inevitability of him leaving for war.