Music critic Dave Marsh suggests that "Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)" may have been lost to history had the Beatles not heard it and recorded a cover version of it.

[4] Marsh describes Alexander's version of the song as having an "off-center Latin rhythm"[4] and his vocals as having a country and western music sound.

[4] Marsh rates it as one of the top 1,001 singles of all time, praising its "inexorable rhythmic flow"[4] and the way the lyrics and music combine to create a "metaphor in which strife among lovers becomes a cry for universal peace.

"[4] Allmusic critic Richie Unterberger suggests that the mixing of love and martial metaphors is almost overdone, although the song manages to avoid sounding gimmicky.

[2] As early as 1962, The Beatles had been playing live versions of the songs on both sides of Alexander's single,[5] with "Where Have You Been (All My Life)" being unofficially recorded at the Star-Club in December that year.

[6] MacDonald also suggests that three songs from the Beatles 1963 album With the Beatles—"Not a Second Time", "It Won't Be Long" and "All I've Got to Do"—were influenced by "Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms).