When I wake the house up
I put on my blue jeans
and become a man of the world
When I shake things up
Take off my blue jeans
what is left is just the outside world

I don’t do the tango
I do the cowboy
in the nearby Underworld bar
Some people call me Maurice
though not a joker
‘cos I’ll stand by you no matter the wars

I stand by you
in my blue jeans
when you open the Underworld bar
I stand by you
in the New Frontier
in my grandfather’s car

I stand by you
while wearing the blue jeans
and planning the future that’s far
I stand by you
and nothing will stand in my way

Then we moved to the city
Working for the man every day,
every night and day
No inhouse, outhouse
City limits, blue jeans,
a man in the outside world

Then our kids woke up
put on their blue jeans
and became men of the world
They shook more things up,
took off their blue jeans
Now just them
and the outside world

Now they stand by you
in their blue jeans
when you open the rocket launch bar
They stand by you
in the Wey-Yu uniforms
looking at Mars

They stand by you
while wearing the blue jeans
and planning the future that’s far
They stand by you
and nothing will stand in their way

They rose towards the heavens
And now they live among the stars
Riding echoes of dust and time
faraway from Mars
No house nor ships no bodies no cars
But sometimes they dream of blue jeans

Now they stand by you
in their blue forms in the Frontier:
beyond the stars
They stand by you
in their light forms, shapeless
connecting the stars

They stand by you
Don’t do the tango, nor cowboy,
no names, just stars
They stand by you
and they are the universe

About

“Stand by you” is the history of mankind in three minutes.

The background story is the book “Childhood’s End” by Arthur C. Clarke. The plot revolves around the arrival of alien Overlords who come with promises of peace and prosperity.

Earth does enter a period of utopian prosperity, but as decades pass, the children born after the arrival start showing unique psychic abilities. Then the novel reaches a turning point where the Overlords’ purpose is revealed. No spoiler alerts beyond this! 😉

While the book explores themes of human transcendence, “Stand By You” tells the history of one family under the influence of the above events:

The grandparents work in the fields in rural areas enjoying beer and line dancing in a barn when the aliens arrive.

Their children move to the city working in a factory, still wearing blue jeans like their parents used to and not minding about the aliens, because life is good

Their children become astronauts performing missions in space. They exhibit the psychic abilities and finally join the human transformation.

Credits

Written by Harri Alatalo

Produced by Juho Isomäki