According to Paul McCartney, the song's title phrase originated from "There's a Place for Us", from the soundtrack album to the 1961 film West Side Story.

[4] Music critic Ian MacDonald speculates that he was referring to the Isley Brothers, but comments that this influence is not readily apparent on the final recording.

[7] Everett also does not consider the song to be especially Motown-influenced, but draws a comparison between soul singer Arthur Alexander and the Marvelettes' 1961 version of "I Want a Guy".

[8] In his 1997 authorised biography, Many Years from Now, Paul McCartney instead recalls co-writing the song with Lennon in the front room of his childhood home, 20 Forthlin Road, "but with a bias towards being [his] original idea".

For example, he writes it takes "two-bar groupings that embellish I with an alternating IV" from the chorus of "Love Me Do" and adds it to the song's first verse.

[18] Pollack describes the song as "paradoxically quite tense", with the confident message of the lyrics playing against the "hard-hitting, unique sonority of the E-Major seventh chord".

[8] Riley writes that its fadeout provides a liberating effect through its major key, suggesting the singer has achieved respite, though the "rhythmic tension" hints at "an uneasiness below the surface that remains unresolved".

[25] EMI's Parlophone label released Please Please Me in the UK on 22 March 1963, with "There's a Place" sequenced as the penultimate track, between "A Taste of Honey" and "Twist and Shout".

[27] In a contemporary review of the album for the Record Mirror, Norman Jopling describes the song as "wistful" with "a definite beat on the backing."

[30] As the Beatles' popularity surged, record labels rushed to re-release material,[31] with Vee-Jay reissuing the album on 27 January 1964.

[36] Author Greil Marcus writes that "There's a Place" is "incandescent", with an arrangement built around drumming from Ringo Starr that "could take your breath away".

[37] Howard Kramer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame writes that the song illustrates the band's earliest influences, joining Everly Brothers-style harmonies with Brill Building-type songwriting.

[16] Hertsgaard, Chris Ingham and Ian Marshall each write that the song's lyrics are deeper than those of the album's other tracks and that they anticipate the more introspective compositions of the later Beatles, especially Lennon.

[40] Kevin Howlett and Lewisohn write the song shows Lennon's "early fascination with self-discovery and the fulfilment such knowledge can bring".

[16] Riley considers the Beatles' song "much better",[16] as do critics Robert Christgau and John Piccarella, who say that "Lennon has better places to go but his room, and better ways to get there than Brian Wilson.