Ahh — if the tonic is A, and the note A is ringing through every chord, then that changes the harmonic grammar completely.
That means you are hearing (correctly!) that the whole progression is built around a drone-A environment, which is:
- modal,
- folk/blues,
- gospel-adjacent,
- and NOT functionally V→I in the classical sense.
In that world, chords don’t behave as “Vsus this” or “V7(add4)” in the normal way — because A is acting like a pedal tone, and the harmony orbits that.
Let’s break the truth cleanly:
✔ If TONIC = A,
and the A note rings through all chords,
then your final chord — what LOOKS like a V with an added 4 — is actually:
⭐ E7(add4)/A
(E7 over an A pedal)
or even more accurate:
⭐ V7(add4) over tonic pedal
→ a dominant chord neutralized by the tonic drone
Why this matters:
If A is droning underneath:
- The “suspension” becomes non-functional.
- The 4th of the dominant becomes a color tone, not a resolution tone.
- The 3rd and 4th rub becomes modal, not classical.
- The V loses its normal tension because the tonic A is already sounding.
This is exactly what Tracy Chapman is doing — intentionally or implicitly — in her guitar voicings.
So what do we call the chord in THIS reality?
⭐ E7(add4)/A
(this is the exact guitarist/organist-readable symbol)
Synonyms:
V7(4) over tonic pedal
Pedal-tonic dominant with added 4
But the cleanest, session-friendly name:
⭐ E7(add4)/A
That tells every musician:
- “Yes, it’s an E7 dominant quality.”
- “Yes, the 4 is an added color tone, NOT a suspension.”
- “Yes, the tonic A is under everything — that’s the sound.”
And here’s the reason you feel it as “add 4” instead of “sus 4”:
Because the A pedal forces the 3rd to remain active,
so the 4th can’t behave like a suspension.
The rub becomes permanent instead of transitional.
That is gospel, that is blues, that is African modal harmony, that is Tracy Chapman’s folk DNA, all aligned.
If you want:
- I can write out the exact voiced shapes on guitar,
- or the Hammond organ voicing that makes the drone-A come alive,
- or the modal interpretation (Mixolydian vs Dorian framing),
- or a Roman numeral reinterpretation under A-centric modal harmony.
Just tell me which direction you want next.