He finished the lyrics before he committed the song to tape, which contrasted with his usual approach of starting with the instrumentation first.

[7] During the pressing of Out of the Cradle, Lee Herschberg, who had worked with Frank Sinatra, was making some copies of the album when he first heard "Soul Drifter".

"[3] BAM highlighted the song's commercial appeal, saying that it "wouldn't sound out of place on any radio format".

[6] Timothy White of Billboard said that the “contrasting layers of Lindsey's multitracked vocals are interwoven with various metronomic riff-sounds that constantly supplant each other before their essential sameness can be detected.

"[8] The New York Times characterized "Soul Drifter" as "a gorgeous folk-cowboy song" that "ends with quotes from The Tokens' "Lion Sleeps Tonight.