The tune just noodles around the five notes that outline the A Major triad. Howeve, it also pivots on the D chord to get back to the key of A for the verses which follow it. The melody this time consists of a plain downward scale. Arrangement - Lewisohn says the opening ostinato lick is played on a special Hammond organ stop that sounds like a celeste. Wollensak reel-to reel tape deck.
Final phrase is more truly double-tracked.
The parallel thirds start right in the first phrase. The ostinato is allowed in to fill out the A Major chord in the first and third phrases. The Refrain is a spirited albeit deliberately paced rock march whose energy level contrasts nicely with the other sections. In my analyses I don't usually indulge in the music theory equivalent of Chomskian linguistics, but in this case the evidence seems just too compelling. What really sparks my imagination here is the way in which this same motif of motion in 3rds is carried through in the melodic material.