[2] Upon release, Peter Jones of Record Mirror considered the song "less infectious" than O'Sullivan's first hit "Nothing Rhymed", but described it as "unmistakeably Gilbert, with that mixture of naivety and power.

"[3] John Peel for Disc and Music Echo considered O'Sullivan's "one of the very few true originals we have" but speculated that he was "somewhat misunderstood and misinterpreted" by the label.

"[4] Writing in The Guardian in 2011, Bob Stanley considered "We Will" to be "a song of resigned melancholy about how to get through a personal crisis by appreciating things such as kicking a ball, visiting distant relatives, eating corn flakes.

"[5] The Times writer Pavel Barter wrote in 2017 that the song "introduced a form of kitchen-sink observational drama usually lacking in pop music.

O'Sullivan has recounted in interviews being phoned up by Andy Williams in the 1970s, who was planning to cover the song and wanted permission to change the line 'I bagsy being in goal' as he did not understand the expression.