Barham's orchestral arrangements were recorded during the next phase of the album's production, along with further contributions from Harrison, such as lead vocals, slide guitar parts and multi-tracked backing vocals. As with tracks such as "Isn't It a Pity" and "All Things Must Pass", Barham and Harrison collaborated on the string arrangement; Barham stayed at Friar Park and created the score from melodies that Harrison sang or played to him on piano or guitar. In his description of the released recording, author Elliot Huntley says that the track's musical tension escalates to "breaking point" with Harrison's mid-song slide guitar solo. Musicologist Thomas MacFarlane writes that, true to the song's lyrics, "the sounds of the track seem to emerge out of darkness/space." In this way, he continues, "Beware of Darkness" conveys the idea of "perpetual distortion itself as an inevitable aspect of the human experience".