¡Que Vida!

The song's title is Spanish for "What a Life", though the working title for the song was "With Pictures and Words".[2] The lyrics, involving topics such as death and reincarnation, suggest to Hoskyns "bad-trip paranoia" and to Greenwald "a psychedelic state of mind".[3][4] Music critic Richie Unterberger claims that in the song "Lee's Johnny Mathis inclinations start to flower in a series of question and answer lyrics."[5] The melody is based on the 1965 song "Lifetime of Loneliness" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.[2][6][7] It employs a bossa nova rhythm, described by author Bob Cianci as a "lilting Latin rhythm."[3][8] It also incorporates sound effects such as sleigh bells, merry-go-round music and a popping champagne cork.[2][9] Arthur Lee biographer John Einerson describes Lee's vocal tone on the song as "mellow".[2] As described by author Barney Hoskyns, the song uses "Latin rhythms and cool jazz shadings to fashion a kind of spaced-out MOR."[4] Music critic Fredrik Eriksen feels the song sounds like a mixture of The Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane.[10]

AllMusic critic Matthew Greenwald regard "¡Que Vida!" as a "true groundbreaking composition for Arthur Lee" in the way the allows the song to flow freely in the direction it wants to go.[3] Greenwald also notes that although the chords always resolve, they go in surprising directions.[3] Edna Gundersen and Ken Burns of USA Today described the song as "summery jazz-pop".[11] Sean Elder of Salon calls the song "whimsical" and notes that it "almost seems like a parody of a hippie song, punctuated with what sounds like a pop gun."[12]