Upon its release as a single, Bob Stanley of
NME praised "Jennifer She Said" as "a charming vignette to tattoos and marriage" that "yields all those deft lyrical twists which seemed to have deserted Cole after the self-parody of
Easy Pieces and the forgettable '
My Bag'". He considered it the band's "best single in yonks" and noted it could have been "one of the finer moments" from the band's 1984 debut album
Rattlesnakes. He added, "Most impressive is the way in which the production includes nothing but a small string section for frills. Delightful." Jerry Smith of
Music Week described it as a "superb track" and added that, in light of the preceding single's failure to reach the top 40, "If talent like this can't result in hits, then God help us!" Kate Davies of
Number One awarded three out of five stars and commented, "One of the best things they've had out for yonks. Lloyd's got the sort of voice that soon gets under your skin once you've got used to its compelling breathiness." Marcus Hodge of the
Cambridge Evening News praised it as the "strongest song" from
Mainstream and added, "Lloyd at his best, being both literary and tuneful. Hope it's a hit." In a 2012 feature on the song, Jim Griffin, writing for
The Guardian, described it as his favourite Lloyd Cole song and noted the "jangly guitars", "croaked delivery" and lyrics "about the fickle nature of early romance". ==Track listing==