Juli Thanki of Engine 145 gave the song a "thumbs up", saying that Keith's vocals had "nearly tangible bravado".
Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times called the song "cinematic" and compared it to Marty Robbins's "El Paso".
Reviewing for The New York Times, Jon Caramanica called the song "a pumped-up and comically desperate tale" and "almost parodic".
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song a positive review, saying that it was Keith's best single in a decade. He also called it "a fantastic reminder of how a strongly lyrical song can take us places and into a movie in our minds."
In January 2011, Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks stated during a video chat that she thought the song resembled Robert Earl Keen's "The Road Goes On Forever".