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

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

hit song by the American pop-rock duo of

Zager and Evans Zager and Evans was an American rock music, rock-popular music, pop Duet (music), duo active during the late 1960s and early 1970s, comprising Denny Zager (born February 14, 1944, Wymore, Nebraska) and Rick Evans (born January 20, 1943, Lincoln, ...

. It reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. It peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in August and September that year. The song was written and composed by Rick Evans in 1964 and released on Truth Records in 1968. It was picked up by RCA Records. Their follow-up single on RCA Victor, "Mr. Turnkey", reached No. 48 in the Canadian pop charts and number 41 in the Canadian AC chart. Another single, "Listen to the People", charted at No. 100 and No. 96 in Canada.

Summary

"In the Year 2525" is a song about the journey of mankind over a 10,000-year span. It predicts that man's thoughts, relationships and body will be negatively impacted by technological advances and ends with man's extinction.

Recording

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

Odessa, Texas Odessa () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, Ector County with portions extending into Midland County, Texas, Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

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 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

Famously, the song made Zager and Evans the ultimate

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder 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 performers with ...

s; for many years, the Nebraska duo were the only artist to hit the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic—and never had another hit on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s chart nor in Britain. (The Canadian group

Magic! Magic! (stylized in all uppercase) is a Canadian reggae fusion band from Toronto. Based in Los Angeles, the band comprises lead vocalist, guitarist/producer Nasri Atweh, guitarist/keyboardist Mark "Pelli" Pellizzer, and bassist Ben Spivak. Ac ...

went to number one in both the US and the UK with "

Rude Rudeness (also called effrontery) is a display of actual or perceived disrespect by not complying with the social norms or etiquette expected within a relationship, social group, or culture. Social norms are established as the essential guidel ...

" in 2014, but have not had a hit record outside of Canada since.) 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 ...

at least 60 times in seven languages, including a Jewish parody recorded by Country Yossi, and an Italian cover by Caterina Caselli titled "Nel 2023". Zager and Evans themselves also recorded an Italian version of the song, instead called "Nell'Anno 2033". Zager and Evans themselves referred to "2525" in one of their later songs, "Yeah 3²" (1970): "I'm gonna call it "In The Year 2525", or something like that/And if it sells, then I'll do well, gonna pay this woman back". 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 ...

, distributed by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or 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 founded by ...

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, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...

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

Alien 3 ''Alien 3'' (stylized as ''ALIEN3'') 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. Starring Sigourney Weaver reprising her ...

'' 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 () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, 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 ...

'', 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 Television Distribution, many stat ...

''. 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 and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

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''. The BBC Radio series ''2525'', a sketch show set in that year, 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''. Zager once said that a ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine cover from 1969 featured him and Evans with the caption "Even

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

would be jealous". However, no cover of the duo is included in Time's magazine history for 1969.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

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 Works set in the 26th century Novelty songs Science fiction music RCA Victor singles Zager and Evans songs