"In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969.[4] It peaked at number one in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in August and September that year.[5] The song was written and composed by Rick Evans in 1964 and originally released on a small regional record label (Truth Records) in 1968.[6] It was later picked up by RCA Records. Zager and Evans disbanded in 1971.
| "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 RCA release | ||||
| Single by Zager and Evans | ||||
| from the album 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) | ||||
| B-side | "Little Kids" | |||
| Released | 1969 (Truth label) April 1969 (RCA label)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1969, Odessa, Texas | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:10 (Truth label) 3:15 (RCA label) | |||
| Label | Truth; RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Rick Evans | |||
| Producer(s) | Zager and Evans | |||
| Zager and Evans singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative release | ||||
 Artwork for the German vinyl single | ||||
Due to Zager and Evans never releasing another charting single, it in turn effectively made them one-hit wonders. This occurred in both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart and as of 2022[update], 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 (on the Billboard Hot 100) or the UK for the rest of their career. Their follow-up single on RCA Victor, "Mr. Turnkey", reached number 48[7] in the Canadian pop charts and number 41 in the Canadian AC chart.[8] Another single, "Listen to the People", managed to make the bottom slot of the Cashbox chart at number 100 and number 96 in Canada.[9]
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.[10] 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.[10]
The overriding theme, of a world doomed by its passive acquiescence to and over dependence on its own overdone technologies, all while neglecting the unchecked exploitation of the Earth, struck a resonant chord in millions of people around the world in the late 1960s.[11]
Recording
The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas.[12]
Personnel
- Denny Zager & Rick Evans – acoustic guitars & vocals
- Mark Dalton – bass guitar
- Dave Trupp – drums
- The Odessa Symphony – additional instruments
- Tommy Allsup – producer[13]
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.[14]
Legacy
The song has been covered at least 60 times in seven languages, including a Jewish parody recorded by Country Yossi, and an Italian version recorded by Zager and Evans called "Nell'Anno 2033".[15][16]
It was included in a Clear Channel memorandum, distributed by Clear Channel Communications to every radio station owned by the company, which contained 165 songs considered to be "lyrically questionable" following the September 11, 2001, attacks.[17]
Two lines of the song are sung by the inmate Murphy in the 1992 film Alien 3 immediately prior to his death. Brief snippets are played in "The Time Is Now", the second-season finale of the TV show Millennium, which depicts an apocalyptic event. The song was rewritten and used as the introductory theme for the 2000 TV series Cleopatra 2525. In 2010, it was parodied as "In the Year 252525" in the seventh episode of Futurama'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.[18] The song acts as an aesthetic theme to the film Gentlemen Broncos.[19] 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.
A fake Time Magazine cover has been circulated after the success of 2525. It was reported in Forbes and by Denny Zager himself that a Time Magazine issue from 1969 featuring Zager and Evans with the caption "Even The Beatles would be jealous" was published. However, this cover does not appear in Time's vault or catalog history.[20][21]
Chart history
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[38] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||