ends with the song's title phrase. The composition includes a guitar riff that author Alan Clayson views as distinctive and "low-down", and closes with an instrumental coda. It also features syncopation, half-bars, and, on the Beatles recording, a guitar solo followed by a change in time signature from 4/4 to six bars in 3/8. Musicologist Walter Everett highlights the song's musical form as an example of "the composer's typically outlandish chord juxtapositions", which in this case reveals "a new level of sophistication similar to jazz methodology". He says that while E minor is the main key, A minor is tonicised in the start of the verses and is further suggested with a surprising G–Dm8–Dm7–E7 chord sequence. Following the final chord in that sequence, he hears the Gm chord as "confident and loudly protesting", and contextually derived via an "unprecedented use of mixture from the Phrygian mode (thus the chord's B [note]) into A pentatonic minor". "Not Guilty" follows Harrison's 1967 song "Only a Northern Song" as a statement of his dissatisfaction in the Beatles. Everett describes the lyrics as a "defense against the tyranny of his songwriting comrades". Harrison refers to his bandmates as seeking to "steal the day"; he recognises his place and vows not to "[get] underneath your feet". In the third verse, he promises not to "upset the Apple cart", as "I only want what I can get". With regard to Rishikesh and the Maharishi, he denies any responsibility for the others' disappointment with the experience. He denies leading the group "astray on the road to Mandalay" and "making friends with every Sikh". Beatles version Esher demo In May 1968, Harrison taped an acoustic demo of the song at his home, Kinfauns in Esher. This and other demos of the band's new material were part of their preparation for recording the double LP The Beatles, also known as the "White Album". On the tapes, the song follows a group performance of Harrison's tribute to meditation, "Sour Milk Sea", after which he refers to "Not Guilty" as "a jazz number" that would make "a good rocker". Having long been available on bootleg compilations, the Esher demo was issued in 2018 on the White Album's 50th Anniversary box set. Studio recording Basic track The Beatles recorded "Not Guilty" at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London in August 1968. The recording was produced by George Martin and engineered