On March 5, 2013, Billboard ranked the song at number 90 in its list of "Top 100 American Idol Hits of All Time".

"[1] After reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Miss Independent", Clarkson wasn't immediately convinced that "Low" should be a single.

Jimmy Harry was surprised when the song was chosen to be a single, "I think it was a big leap of faith to segue from ‘Miss Independent’ to ‘Low’ because the production and lyrical content were so different,' he continues.

"[1] Henry Goldblatt of Entertainment Weekly praised the vocal performance and wrote that Kelly owns country-ish "Low.

"[5] Arion Berger of Rolling Stone wrote that "the album's producers jam Clarkson into the stilettos of MTV sexpots like Faith Hill in 'Low'.

"[8] Sputnikmusic praised "Miss Independent" and "Low", calling them "both huge singles that drove the album towards that platinum mark rather quickly.

"[9] Mike Wass of Idolator praised the "surprisingly gritty" song, "which introduced the songstress to a sound she would explore more fully on the criminally underrated My December.

He also added that, "I listened to the lyrics and there were elements of lost love and feeling low, and there are some scenes directly from that, however they are portrayed in more metaphoric terms.

'"[17] The video opens with Clarkson cruising on a desert highway in a Land Rover Series II that viewers later learn belongs to an old flame.

Eventually, after cutting back from footage of her performing at a drive-in theater (with psychedelic imagery on the big screen), the video shows Clarkson pulling off the road near the edge of a cliff.