"In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

hit song by the American pop-rock duo of

Zager and Evans Zager may refer to: * Bruce B. Zager (born 1952), American justice of the Iowa Supreme Court *Michael Zager (born 1943), American record producer *Zager, Iran, a village in Ardabil Province, Iran See also * Bert Zagers (1933–1992), American foo ...

. It reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. It peaked at number one in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for three weeks in August and September that year. The song was written and composed by Rick Evans in 1964 and originally released on a small regional record label (Truth Records) in 1968. It was later picked up by RCA Records. Zager and Evans disbanded in 1971. Zager and Evans were a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

, never releasing another charting single. This occurred in both the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the

and , they are the only recording artists ever to have a chart-topping number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic and never have another charting single in the US or the UK for the rest of their career. Their follow-up single on RCA Victor, "Mr. Turnkey", reached number 48 in the Canadian pop charts and number 41 in the Canadian AC chart. Another single, "Listen to the People", managed to make the bottom slot of the '' Cashbox'' chart at number 100 and number 96 in Canada.

Summary

"In the Year 2525" opens with an introductory verse explaining that if mankind has survived to that point, they would witness the subsequent events in the song. The following verses jump the story approximately with 1000-year intervals, specifically 3535, 4545, 5555, 6565, 7510, 8510 and finally 9595. In each succeeding millennium, life becomes increasingly sedentary and automated: thoughts are pre-programmed into pills for people to consume, eyes, teeth, and limbs all lose their purposes due to machines replacing their functions, and marriage becomes obsolete because children are conceived in test tubes. The song ends after 10,000 years. By that time, humans have finally become extinct. But the narrator notes that somewhere 'so very far away', possibly in an alternative universe, the scenarios told in the song have still yet to play out, as the song repeats from the top (but in the same key, tone, and speed as the previous verse) and the recording fades out. The overriding theme, of a world doomed by its passive acquiescence to and over dependence on its own overdone

technologies Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

, struck a resonant chord in millions of people around the world in the late 1960s.

Recording

The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...

Personnel

*Denny Zager & Rick Evansacoustic guitars & vocals *Mark Daltonbass guitar *Dave Truppdrums *The Odessa Symphonyadditional instruments *Tommy Allsupproducer The record had regional success so RCA Records picked it up for a national release. RCA producer

Ethel Gabriel Ethel Nagy Gabriel (November 16, 1921 – March 23, 2021) was an American record producer and record executive with a four-decade career at RCA Victor. She produced over 2,500 music albums including 15 RIAA Certified Gold Records and hits by Elvis ...

was tasked with enhancing the sound and arrangement. The track went to number 1 on the U.S. charts within three weeks of release.

Legacy

The song has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

at least 60 times in seven languages, including a Jewish parody recorded by

Country Yossi Yossi (Joseph) Toiv (born January 9, 1949), known professionally as Country Yossi, is an American Orthodox Jewish composer, singer, radio show host, author, and magazine publisher. A composer and singer in the Jewish music genre, Toiv has to his ...

, and an Italian version recorded by Zager and Evans called "Nell'Anno 2033". It was included in a

Clear Channel memorandum Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia), the largest owner of radio stations in the United States, circulated an internal memorandum containing a list of songs that program directors felt were "l ...

, distributed by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...

to every radio station owned by the company, which contained 165 songs considered to be "lyrically questionable" following the

September 11, 2001, attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

. Two lines of the song are sung by the inmate Murphy in the 1992 FILM ''

Alien 3 ''Alien 3'' (stylized as ''A''LIEN³) is a 1992 American science fiction horror film directed by David Fincher and written by David Giler, Walter Hill, and Larry Ferguson, from a story by Vincent Ward. It stars Sigourney Weaver, reprising her r ...

'' immediately prior to his death. Brief snippets are played in " The Time Is Now", the second-season finale of the TV show ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

'', which depicts an apocalyptic event. The song was rewritten and used as the introductory theme for the 2000 TV series ''

Cleopatra 2525 ''Cleopatra 2525'' is an American science fiction television series that aired in syndication for two seasons, from January 2000 to March 2001. Produced by Renaissance Pictures and distributed by Studios USA, many stations aired it as part of the ...

''. In 2010, it was parodied as "In the Year 252525" in the seventh episode of ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

s sixth season, " The Late Philip J. Fry", as Fry, Professor Farnsworth and Bender travel forwards through time to find a period in which the ''backwards'' time machine has been invented. The song acts as an aesthetic theme to the film ''

Gentlemen Broncos ''Gentlemen Broncos'' is a 2009 American comedy film written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Michael Angarano, Jemaine Clement, Jennifer Coolidge, and Sam Rockwell. Plot Benjamin Purvis lives with his mothe ...

''.Hear me out: why Gentlemen Broncos isn’t a bad movie
by Ryan Gilbey. ''The Guardian'' April 12, 2021. Accessed June 3, 2021. The BBC Radio series ''2525'', a sketch show set in the year 2525, featured a cover of the song with its first lyric as its introductory theme. The first few verses of the song are used as the opening theme while the credits roll in the 2006 film ''

Tunnel Rats The tunnel rats were American, Australian, New Zealander, and South Vietnamese soldiers who performed underground search and destroy missions during the Vietnam War. Later, similar teams were used by the Soviet Army during the Soviet–Afghan ...

''.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:In The Year 2525 1964 songs 1968 debut singles 1969 singles American folk rock songs American psychedelic rock songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Switzerland Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Norway Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles Psychedelic folk songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Dystopian music Environmental songs Fiction set in the 26th century Novelty songs Science fiction music RCA Victor singles