"Polly" was ranked number 18 in "NME"s 2004 "Top 20 Nirvana Songs" list. In 2015, "Rolling Stone" ranked it number 29 in their ranking of 102 Nirvana songs, with Julianne Sheperd writing, "Though it's certainly not a protest song, it deftly delves into the mind of a sicko, like a succinct "", and is an example of the thoughtful depths Cobain was willing to plumb." In 2019, it was ranked at number 14 in "The Guardian"s list of "Nirvana's 20 greatest songs".