[2] In the song, Courtney, who was newly married at the time of its writing, depicts a lingering and lonely phone call: "We can talk for hours / but the line is still engaged / we’re not getting any closer / you’re too many miles away.

"[3] Ten years after the song's release, the band issued a demo version as a part of the Bandcamp-only compilation Good Music To Lift Los Angeles.

Pitchfork gave it their "Best New Track" designation, with Larry Fitzmaurice writing: "From the chiming six-string interplay that opens the song to Martin Courtney's benevolent, honeyed vocals, all the elements are in place to cement "Talking Backwards" as another indelible Real Estate song, a testament to the band owning their lane as a truly exceptional guitar-focused group at a time when truly exceptional guitar-focused groups are in short supply.

"[11] Dan Weiss from Spin found it "well-crafted,"[12] while the Boston Globe's David Brusie felt it "recall[ed] the poppy, punchy Real Estate that wowed critics when the band burst on the scene in 2009.

"[13] Rolling Stone dubbed it one of the best songs of its year,[14] as did Time, with writer Jamieson Cox commenting: "A meditation on disconnection, memory, and maturity, it’s proof that getting older doesn’t have to mean becoming boring.