[5] According to the liner notes of the album [6] Like Paul Williams, Tony Attwood discusses the song as personal to Dylan but in the sense that it uses "the uncertainty of an artist who has to some degree lost his way, as a theme in his writing".
[9] In her book A Freewhweelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties, Suze Rotolo cites it as one of her favorite Dylan songs.
She writes that she considers it to be "the essence of Bob Dylan", and notes that "only he could have written it" and that it "showcases his acerbic wit and his ability to twist multiple meanings around his finger".
Kitty Empire, writing in The Guardian, cited Dylan's "poignant drawl" on this performance as the high point of the show.
[13] Consequence's Katie Moulton likewise considered "What Was It You Wanted" as a "major highlight" of Shadow Kingdom, noting that "[i]n the shifting chiaroscuro, and sung by an octogenarian, the song is simultaneously a plea, an accusation, and a long dark reflection".