"'Run the World (Girls)' is tagged on like a bonus track following 'I Was Here', which sounds like the perfect ending for the album." Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone also had the same view, saying it "disrupts the flow of up-tempo songs on the second half 4". Perpetua however calls it a "showstopper" and added that it "work[s] well as a bittersweet emotional climax for the album". Perpetua finished his review by saying that "'I Was Here' is the blustery ballad one would expect by a Beyoncé/Warren team-up, and stands off as flat and generic when compared to the rest of 4." Another reviewer of the same magazine, Jody Rosen complimented Beyoncé's vocals stating that she sings with authority; however, he coined "I Was Here" as a low point on the album and added that it is "swamped in 'My Way'-style self-mythologizing." Steve Jones of USA Today showed appreciation for "I Was Here": "At 29, the still-in-her-prime Beyoncé seems a little young to be worrying about her legacy, as she does on the Warren power ballad I Was Here. But she puts so much feeling into it that it winds up being the album's most moving song." Joanne Dorken of MTV UK was also positive, praising the song's "simple backing music, and Beyoncé's flawless and beautiful voice." She concluded that "I Was Here" ends up being a "standout song on the album [and] we won't be forgetting Queen B in a hurry." Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic was also positive, writing, "Payoff comes on 11th song, the epically loping 'I Was Here.' Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun commented that "I Was Here" comes to "a show-stopping moment in a Beyonce concert near you". James Reed of The Boston Globe wrote that the collaboration of Diane Warren and Ryan Tedder, introduces "a new strain of her balladry: an ethereal marriage of R&B sensuality and stuttering indie-rock guitars." Condar Tao of the website Sputnikmusic showed his appreciation for the song, writing, "[...] perhaps even more notable is the record's penultimate track, the Ryan Tedder-produced 'I Was Here'. Tedder is arguably one of the most irritating people working in pop today, and considering his track record, it's not a surprise that 'I Was Here' is the most contemporary-sounding song off of 4. What is surprising is just how good it is. The production is predictably icky, making that increasingly common mistake of