Larry Flick from Billboard magazine wrote, "Enya delivers yet another great single. 'Only If' is as peaceful and memorably melodic as any other of her inspirational, soul-purifying songs, which traditionally are etched with a unique combination of background voices with drums and violin lines. It's a combination that makes all her songs seem antique, almost, if not angelic. Enya can many times take her listeners into another dimension altogether, and this single is a fine example of that." British magazine Music Week gave the song three out of five, noting that it "is the closest Enya has come to a traditional pop arrangement, though the trademark orchestral layers and oceanic sonics are still in place."