with Bob Dylan and the Band in upstate New York. The visit allowed Harrison to experience a musical camaraderie that had been absent in the Beatles over much of 1968, and inspired him as he emerged as a prolific songwriter. Author and critic Ian MacDonald identifies the "hood-eyed spirit" of Dylan in the song's "dusty shuffle-beat" and ironic lyrics, while recognising the "surprising and graphic" chord progression as typical of Harrison's work. Author Alan Clayson also detects a Dylan influence in the rhythm, which he calls a "'Highway 61 Revisited' chug". Composition "Old Brown Shoe" is in the key of C major, although its chords also suggest the latter's relative minor key, A minor. The time signature is 4/4 throughout. Following a four-bar introduction, the song's structure comprises two verses, a bridge, an instrumental verse, followed by a second bridge, a final verse and the outro. The verse employs blues-inflected C7 and D7 chords (or I7 and II7 chords in Roman numeral analysis) before an increase in harmonic movement is marked by changes to F, A, F, E augmented and A minor. The verses avoid the expected plagal cadence by resolving with the relative minor chord rather than I7. In achieving this via the augmented chord, a C note resonates through the final changes, a device that musicologist Dominic Pedler cites among the Beatles' most effective uses of augmented chords. The bridge is structured in familiar 1960s rock fashion with its reliance on V and IV (G and F) chords. The section again resolves unusually, however; rather than using the expected D7 chord before exiting with a return to G, a disguised imperfect cadence is achieved through a dissonant iv diminished chord (Fdim7) before the final V chord. Among other musicologists' assessments, Walter Everett considers that the composition's "A/C duality" fits well with Harrison's lyrical theme, while Alan Pollack highlights the flat VI (A) chord in the verse and the frequent bluesy flat 3rd and 7th notes alongside the I7 chords. Music critic Tim Riley says the lyrics represent "a witty and oblique look at love, delivered with sardonic flair", as typified by the opening verse: "I want a love that's right / Right is only half of what's wrong / I want a short-haired girl / Who sometimes wears it twice as long". He views the reference to "wear[ing] rings on every finger" as a nod to Ringo Starr.