Chord Req: Explain this chord sequence

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Explain this chord sequence
From: GUEST,JohnMcNeill
Date: 14 Aug 12 - 06:52 AM

My guess would be that the E is the dominant chord leading to Am as it is in the key Am. The G sharp is from the minor scale, not the natural minor.

Subject: Chord Req: Explain this chord sequence
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 14 Aug 12 - 06:24 AM

Here's Graeme Allwright singing "Jusqu'a la ceinture", which is his translation of Pete Seeger's "Waist deep in the Big Muddy".

And here's the chord sequence for the first couple of lines:

Am G   F   E   Am   E   Am   E7

Playing the melody through, it seems to be in C (or Am). F and G belong with C (or Am) - but what's that E doing there? (It's definitely E, not Em.)

The answer to "why these chords?" is always ultimately "because they sound right", but what puzzles me is why those E chords do sound right. They both have a G sharp, which seems like it ought to sound discordant - but it doesn't. Qu'est-ce qui se passe?

Graeme Allwright was originally from New Zealand; he emigrated to Britain before settling - and finding success - in France. Rumours that he decided to abandon the English-speaking world to escape the endless "I've just seen Graeme Allwright!"/"Was he any good?" jokes cannot be substantiated.