♫ In The Year 2525 ♫

Posted on by under music

The year was 1968, the musicians were Denny Zager and Rick Evans, and this was their one and only hit.  This song hit #1 in both the U.S. and UK, as well as Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.

This bleak futuristic tale is a very unusual song, but 1969 was a very unusual year, with hippie anthems like Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In going to #1 along with bubblegum songs like Sugar, Sugar. The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Temptations all had classic #1s, but In the Year 2525 stayed at #1 for six weeks, which was longer than any other song that year and earned it the distinction of #1 record of the year 1969. The song reflected the apprehension of the times and also the wonder of technology: it started its run at the top of the US chart the week before the Apollo 11 moon landing.

The overriding theme, of a world doomed by its passive acquiescence to and over-dependence on its own overdone technologies, struck a resonant chord in millions of people around the world in the late 1960s.

In the Year 2525
Zager and Evans

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find

In the year 3535
Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies
Everything you think, do and say
Is in the pill you took today

In the year 4545
Ain’t gonna need your teeth, won’t need your eyes
You won’t find a thing to chew
Nobody’s gonna look at you

In the year 5555
Your arms are hanging limp at your sides
Your legs got nothing to do
Some machine is doing that for you

In the year 6565
Ain’t gonna need no husband, won’t need no wife
You’ll pick your son, pick your daughter too
From the bottom of a long glass tube, whoa

In the year 7510
If God’s a-comin’ he ought to make it by then
Maybe he’ll look around himself and say
Guess it’s time for the Judgement day

In the year 8510
God is gonna shake his mighty head then
He’ll either say I’m pleased where man has been
Or tear it down and start again, woah woah

In the year 9595
I’m kinda wondering if man is gonna be alive
He’s taken everything this old earth can give
And he ain’t put back nothing, woah woah

Now it’s been 10,000 years
Man has cried a billion tears
For what he never knew
Now man’s reign is through

But through eternal night
The twinkling of starlight
So very far away
Maybe it’s only yesterday

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may thrive

In the year 3535
Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies

 

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26 thoughts on “♫ In The Year 2525 ♫”

  3. I STILL HAVE AN ORIGINAL 1969 RCA VICTOR VINYL 45 RPM RECORD OF THIS SONG!! Well, actually my Son does since brokering a deal with me back in the early 2000’s. He loves this song, as do I…doesn’t everyone?! The deal was that he would purchase the newly released CD that has both the 1969 “2525 ( Exordium & Terminus)” album and the 1970 “Zager & Evans” album in exchange for my old vinyl 45 record…it was in excellent condition and worth the CD’s cost! Zager and Evans were one hit wonders, but their other songs are good listening too. What I often wished to own though only ever an amateur guitarist, but do not, is a Zager Guitar that are custom hand built in Denny’s workshop in Lincoln, Nebraska. Back in 1969 Zager began what became a nearly 10 year rebuild of the guitar for easier playing with quality materials resulting in the EZ-Play Guitar. Like many of us, Denny Zager used the learn by ear method to play the guitar. He developed the Zager Learning System which employs this method and taught it from the early 70’s to 2000. Denny Zager must be in his late 70’s by now but the business, with his son’s assistance, continues to turn out guitars that are much in demand by both professional and amateur guitarists. They are pricey, we’re talking $800 into the thousands but come with a lifetime guarantee. I’ve had good guitars but not that good!! So, whilst Zager was a one hit wonder in the recording business, he is definitely a mega hit in the guitar business. Sadly, I cannot tell you anything about Rick Evans other than he died back in early 2018. Thank-you!

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    • You never cease to amaze me, dear Ellen!!! I cannot remember what I did yesterday! You are truly a walking storehouse of knowledge about all things musical (and many other things, as well). You are right … Denny Zager was born on Valentine’s Day 1944, so is very nearly 76, but still active in his business, from what I can ascertain. I thank you so much for making this song even more meaningful, for bringing Zager to live for us! (You really should be doing my music posts for me, y’know. I pay well! Assuming you like homemade chocolate chip cookies, that is)

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  6. Pingback: ♫ In The Year 2525 ♫ — Filosofa’s Word – Sarah's Attic Of Treasures

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