Lost in The World - Reception

Reception

Alex Denney NME called the song the "heart-rending highlight" of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and cited the vocal performance by Vernon as a "quite brilliant effect." Denney commented "it frames Kanye’s inner demons in a universal way, recasting Vernon’s semi-mythical woodland retreat as his own cipher for spiritual replenishment". Los Angeles Times writer Ann Powers called the song an important piece of the album, saying that the sampling of Bon Iver was both surprising and inspired, and noted the differences from "Woods" and "Lost in the World". David Amidon of PopMatters viewed that the track contained "glass-shattering bass", and viewed that the track "storms out of all this dreariness with a thunderous, plodding house bass and Kanye taking Bon Iver in every which direction as the song exudes nothing but triumph." Chris Martins of Spin stated that West managed to transform Iver's "melancholic 'Woods' into a perversely bright experimental dance track." Sasha Frere-Jones of The New Yorker commented that the song was difficult to classify as purely a rap song, noting that "West’s music is born of hip-hop, but it now includes so many varieties that it feels most accurate to call it simply Kanye." Jones noted than in less than the six minutes of the song's running time, West "moves from a loner in the woods to his own isolation and on to the entire African-American experience."

Andy Gill of The Independent stated that he was impressed that the song was West's only use of autotune on the album, describing the song as both "lovely" and "poignant" in nature. David Browne of Time stated that the song, much like "Runaway", feature "himmering soundscapes that pinpoint a common ground between the hardness of hip-hop and the sweetness of indie rock." AbsolutePunk's Drew Beringer cited the song as an example of West's growth as a producer, noting that he was sampling unexpected songs to unique results, including the "haunting" song "Woods". Beringer felt that the most interest take of this on the album was "Lost in the World", describing it as a "as an auto-tuned medley of Vernon and West that soars over pounding drums and a frantic backing choir". HipHopDX writer Jake Paine felt that the track utilized "pounding drums", and commented that it was "an intense tapestry of ever-changing sound that includes several genres and decades of inspiration."

Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic viewed that track, along with "All of the Lights" and "Power" have "a certain zest of life" to them, adding that all three tracks were "beautiful". He also commented that "it is great to see that Kanye is still able to have plenty of fun without losing any of his creativity." Dan Vidal of URB commented "sonically, the joy comes from the triumphant, painstaking arrangement that undoubtedly went into the production". The Washington Post's Chris Richards mused that "the drums come avalanching on Lost in the World", calling it "the grand finale this album deserves." He continued that "West serves up high drama at a breakneck tempo, with pining melodies crying out for a redemptive moment. But there's no final act of contrition. West is too 'lost in this plastic life.'" Cole Mathew of Slant Magazine described the track as "Kanye's much-anticipated reworking of Bon Iver's "Woods" from his classic EP", and wrote that "it's astounding how he takes the strangest sample on the album and crafts it into a defiantly giddy dance number, complete with tribal drumming in the verses and group choruses that sound massive. It's a mad stroke of brilliance to take Justin Vernon's solitary ode to alienation and use it as the centerpiece of a catchy, communal reverie. It's experimental, to be sure, but it's also the closest the album comes to pure pop indulgence." The song peaked on the South Korea Gaon Chart at position 104.