"Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)" is in 4/4 time and in the musical key of E. Rather than using formal chord changes, the melody is established through a modal riff over a constant E major chord."'Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)' (by George Harrison)", in Ringo Starr Ringo: Sheet Music for Piano, Vocal & Guitar, Charles Hansen (New York, NY, 1973). Harrison biographer Simon Leng considers the song to be "musically an homage to the spirit" of "Rag Mama Rag" by the Band, who epitomised the counterculture's embracing of pastoral values in the late 1960s.John Harris, "Into the Woods", Mojo, December 2003, p. 92.Romanowski & George-Warren, p. 50. Having spent time with the group in Woodstock in late 1968,Helm, p. 178. following the completion of the Beatles' White Album,Doggett, pp. 56–57. Harrison had drawn inspiration from the Band's focus on traditional song forms during the final year of the Beatles' career.Leng, pp. 51–53, 318. Among other authors commenting on the song's musical style, Starr biographer Alan Clayson deems it "a hootenanny hoe-down", while Beatles scholar Michael Frontani writes of its "authentic country-bluegrass" mood.
