Concept-wise, "Do You Wanna Get High?" is about Rivers Cuomo's former addiction to prescription pills, which he did along with his girlfriend he had in 2000 and 2001.[2][3] Cuomo states "Suddenly the song is sunny and sweet and in my mind, creatively this is when the high kicks in — everything is lovely and dreamy."[4] Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone compared the song's opening feedback to that of "No Other One" from Pinkerton.[5] Alex Young at Consequence of Sound compared the song's "bombastic guitar riffs and earworm hooks" to Pinkerton.[6] Genre-wise, it has been described as an "alt rock chugger"[7] and a "power pop jam".[8]
Chris DeVille at Stereogum held the song in higher regards than the previous single, "Thank God for Girls", describing it as "Pinkerton style meets Green Album quality."[9] Carolyn Menyes from Music Times stated ""Do You Wanna Get High?" is a hard-hitting song and reminds fans that for every goofy Weezer song, there's this sort of real rock gem. And, for bonus points, there's a soaring guitar solo that brings the real hardness of this song all the way home."[10] At Spin, Andrew Unterberger ranked it as the 14th best post-Pinkerton Weezer song, observing "the narcotic temptations of the lyrics give “High” a darkness and intrigue we never heard from Cuomo the first time around, thankfully keeping it from becoming cartoonish in its retro leanings."[7]
