“No Problem, Take A Seat” - a song about asking why
This is the first song of two that I wrote with veteran Carl Berger.
Story Pairing
This is one of two songs that I wrote as part of Project DREW. Project DREW was founded to honor the legacy of Special Forces Captain Drew Ferguson. D.R.E.W. is an acronym that uses his first name to capture our mission: Delivering Restorative Energy to our Warriors.
I had heard from other songwriters, that have been a part of the program, how powerful and heavy sitting down with one of our nations heroes could be. As someone that doesn’t connect with war and politics I wasn’t sure how I would do. Any and all of those fears dissolved immediately once walking through those doors. The people putting on this project are beyond professional, and the veterans that participate are deep wells of experience and share their stories with such honesty and grace.
I was paired with Carl Berger, a absolute gem of a human. We ended up hanging out for all of the allotted time and even after the other songwriters and veterans left. Carl has done so much that I could help but sit and listen and ask questions. We are challenged to write a single song that holds some of their experience, but Carl and I ended up writing two in the 4 hours we were together.
With Carl’s permission I am sharing his words about what this first song is about.
The first song is titled, “No Problem, Take A Seat.” It’s a quote used by Sergeant Brown who served as my instructor in several Fire Direction training classes at Fort Sill OK. Fire Direction is the specialty in the Artillery that plots the position of the targets and the artillery guns and then makes the calculation to determine how to aim the guns, and what charges are required to get the selected projectile to the target.
Sergeant Brown concluded every class with exactly the same question. “Any questions, Class?”
He was highly competent in fire direction protocol and procedures and promptly and concisely answered any question regarding how to process missions and where to find any required artillery tables. However, we soon learned that any question beginning with the word WHY, was simply answered, “No problem, take your seat.” For amusement, we continued to ask WHY questions from time to time, but we also learned the Army training was about what to do and how to do it. WHY was not part of Army training. This was not something new in 1969. As some of you may know Alfred Lord Tennyson in his 1854 poem, The Charge of The Light Brigade wrote, “Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do and die.”
Still, I wanted to understand all the WHY’s that entering the service presented beginning with how to accept serving in the military of my country that was waging a war I didn’t believe in, to the failing of a love I thought would last forever, to empathizing with GI’s struggling with classes so that they might better participate in the mainstream of American life as well as the Army, and finally to understand and appreciate the precious nature of time.
- Carl Berger
One of the verses uses some slang that Carl shared:
A Redtail is the plane that would take soldiers home.
A turtle was your replacement for whatever job you were doing.
Easy Queen is the nickname of a mountain.
Song Structure
Capo 4
Verse: G / C
Chorus: Em / F / G
Bridge: Bm / C / G / Bm / C / D
Voice Memos
Notebook Page
March 2023
Lyrics
I don't understand why this interruption's needed
No ones here to hold to what I say
The only way were happy is if someone else is bleeding
The north is looking sweeter by the day
Why can't I stand the heat
No problem, take a seat
I don't understand why she couldn't love me
If I wouldn't walk her down and arch of steel
More take by the bars, gold or silver on my shoulder
Than how the man beneath it has to feel
Why don't these shoes fit my feet
No problem, take a seat
I don't understand why my red tail never visits
And why my turtle's walking the wrong way
That easy queen is calling for those circle loving fallen
Stay sharp to make the opposition pay
Why don't they ever miss a beat
No problem, take a seat
I'm taking in this place, taking in it's soul
If you get lost in the middle, it will never let you go
I don't understand why I'm counting down the minutes
Why they aren't as precious as before
With every stop I'm searching through my bag and what's left in it
To leave my gear on someone else's floor
Why am I feeling more complete
No problem, take a seat
Why am I feeling more complete
No problem, take a seat