It was also featured as a single from the 1981 live album Songs in the Attic, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1982.

[4] The lyrics to "She's Got a Way" have the singer describing how various characteristics of a particular woman, such as her laugh, make him love her, even though he can't understand why.

"[6] Schruers describes the last word "anyway" as hanging in the air, "trailing off" and "disrupting the tempo" and thus "seemingly giving in to the emotion" of love.

[7] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the studio version as being "lovely" and rated it as one of Joel's "finest songs.

"[7] Billboard's Roy Waddell similarly described it as a "chestnut" that didn't get its "proper due" until the live version was released on Songs in the Attic.

[6] According to Rolling Stone Album Guide critic Paul Evans, "She's Got a Way" "set the pattern for the ballads Joel would soon turn out effortlessly.

"[13] The version released on Songs in the Attic was recorded at a live performance in June 1980 at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, Massachusetts.

"[15] Ken Bielen describes the performance as being influenced by Paul McCartney's style, and says that the small venue with its "attentive audience" provides an "intense intimacy.

[5] She also adds a gospel choir for background vocals which, in Bielen's opinion gives the impression that her interpretation may be directed towards God rather than a human lover.