"The 1" received generally positive reviews from critics. They discussed the song regarding its placement on the album as the opening track, the majority of whom found its style for
Folklore to deviate from her previous works and to set the album's tone. Allegra Frank of
Vox found the production danceable like her other album openers but "markedly slowed down" in comparison. John Wohlmacher from
Beats Per Minute found the track had a vocal melody and
song structure similar to "
I Forgot That You Existed"—the opener of her 2019 album
Lover—but thought their aesthetics were quite distinct from each other. Channing Freeman of
Sputnikmusic wrote that the song's placement was a little detrimental as the rest of
Folklore employs its style and believed this made the song somewhat less engaging. Critics mainly praised the song's production and songwriting. Ahlgrim included the song on her mid-year list of the best songs of 2020 and lauded it as one of Swift's "most relatable and stirring" tracks.
The Telegraph critic
Neil McCormick said that the song was full of narrative details and opined that its theme of "defeated love" may "suggest Swift's social isolation has been a lonely one". Caleb Campbell from
Under the Radar deemed the song's lyrics about a crumbling romance one of her most mature takes on the subject to date. Ellen Johnson of
Paste described the lyrics as "bright, vivid and occasionally funny" but in a more sophisticated way compared to Swift's previous songs. Katie Moulton from
Consequence thought the track was one of the first songs she did not write for radio formats and highlighted the "self-awareness and willingness to both hold herself responsible and forgive" that makes it distinguishable from other album tracks. Anna Leszkiewicz of the
New Statesman found the lyrics "[w]istful but refreshingly lacking in regret" and believed the song blended her skill of "romantic nostalgia with a novel ease and acceptance". In contrast, Roisin O'Connor of
The Independent favored the song's smaller details more than the one-liners. Hannah Mylrea from
NME wrote that the instrumentation accompanies Swift's vocals and the hook very well. A few reviewers were more reserved in their praise. Spencer Kornhaber from
The Atlantic said the track was reminiscent of the English singer-songwriter
Ed Sheeran and felt that its "solemnity [was] forced". Jason Lipshutz of
Billboard listed the song at number eleventh on his ranking of the tracks from
Folklore and said that it stays "unadorned" for the majority of its length. The
Los Angeles Times Mikael Wood placed the song as the weakest track on his ranking of the album and believed it was "less emotionally daring" than the rest of the tracks. == Commercial performance ==