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"ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL": HOW THE CHORD PROGRESSION WORKS
The 32-bar chord progression goes like this:
- I – IV – V7 – I (A – D – E7– A) 8 bars
- I – IV – V7 – I (A – D – E7– A) 8 bars
- I – V7 (A –E7) 4 bars
- V7 – I (E7 – A) 4 bars
- I – IV (A – D) 4 bars
- IV – I – V7 – I (D – A – E7 – A) 4 bars
Then the tune immediately ducks back to the E chord (the V chord, or dominant chord), where it vamps again for a long time while the fiddle improvises. This is the secret of the power of “Orange Blossom Special.” Going to the E chord seems like a return to the original tonal centre but at the same time, it feels like the dominant chord (the V7 chord) of the key of A. The fact that it stays on that V chord for a long time builds up a powerful expectation of chord resolution in the brain of the listener, who must wait and wait in delicious anticipation for that V chord to change to V7 and finally resolve to the I chord of the new tonality (A), and the return of the breakneck tune.
In effect, the listener doesn’t realize it at the outset, but the tune effectively begins on the dominant chord, E major, of the main melody’s tonality, the key of A major. Because there’s no other referencing harmony at the beginning of the song, the listener accepts the E chord as the tonic. Then comes the first surprise: E changes to E7 and then moves to A, revealing a different tonality for the main melody of the song. Then another surprise: The chord A moves back to E and vamps for a long time, building up anticipation for the return to A major and the main melody.