The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day The Earth Stood Still is the 14th studio album by American singer-songwriter Willie Nile, released on August 13, 2021, by River House Records, it was co-produced by Nile and Stewart Lerman who has worked with Nile on nine of his previous albums. Grammy Award-winning musician Steve Earle is a guest artist on this album. Background Upon seeing the deserted streets and boarded up stores of New York City because of Covid-19, Nile was reminded of scenes from the 1951 sci-fi movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Nile uses the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto" in the chorus of the title track of the album. Drawing from his Covid lockdown experiences, in June 2020, he began writing songs for the album. A few years earlier, Nile had been introduced to Congressman John Lewis by Nile's friend, Congressman Joe Crowley. Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020. Nile and Frankie Lee wrote Justice Bell in honor of Lewis and his band recorded it, coincidentally, on January 6, 2021, the day of the Washington insurrection. Nile says "Blood on Your Hands" is a song about dancing with the devil. "If you dance with the devil you can get blood on your hands". Nile invited his friend and neighbor Steve Earle to join him on that song.