"In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969.[4] It peaked at No. 1 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 released on Truth Records in 1968.[6] It was 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 | ||||
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.[7][8] Another single, "Listen to the People", charted at No. 100 and No. 96 in Canada.[9]
Summary
edit"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.[10]
Recording
editThe song was recorded in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas.[11]
Personnel
edit- Denny Zager & Rick Evans – acoustic guitars & vocals
- Mark Dalton – bass guitar
- Dave Trupp – drums
- The Odessa Symphony – additional instruments
- Tommy Allsup – producer[12]
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.[13]
Legacy
editFamously, the song made Zager and Evans the ultimate one-hit wonders; 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's chart nor in Britain. (The Canadian group Magic! went to number one in both the US and the UK with "Rude" in 2014, but have not had a hit record outside of Canada since.)
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".[14][15]
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, 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.[16]
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.[17]
The song acts as an aesthetic theme to the film Gentlemen Broncos.[18]
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 Magazine cover from 1969 featured him and Evans with the caption "Even The Beatles would be jealous". However, no cover of the duo is included in Time's magazine history for 1969.[19][20]
Chart history
edit
Weekly chartsedit
|
Year-end chartsedit
All-time chartsedit
|
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[37] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Zager And Evans - In The Year 2525 (Exordium And Terminus)". Retrieved March 23, 2020 – via www.45cat.com.
- ^ "Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525". Discogs. 1969. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (November 28, 2018). "The Number Ones: Zager & Evans' "In The Year 2525"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
...the #1 song in America was a massively goofy folk-rock sci-fi novelty song about the dangers of technology.
- ^ The Hot 100, Week of July 12, 1969 – Billboard.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 236. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Miller, Nathaniel (19 August 2011). "Hit song of 1969 recorded in Odessa". News OK. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- ^ "RPM Top 50 Adult - November 8, 1969" (PDF).
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - November 8, 1969" (PDF).
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - January 10, 1970" (PDF).
- ^ Reynolds, Tom (2005). I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You've Ever Heard. Milsons Point, N.S.W.: Random House. p. 85. ISBN 1-74166-020-3.
- ^ "Drummer on only No. 1 hit to come out of Lincoln dies at 72 | Local". Journalstar.com. 2015-11-19. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- ^ Forte, Dan (14 March 2019). "Tommy Allsup 1931-2017: From Buddy Holly to Bob Wills". VintageGuitar.com.
- ^ "Zager and Evans | Way Back Attack". www.waybackattack.com. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
- ^ "All versions of Some musics". Alltheversions.blogspot.com. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
- ^ "Zager & Evans Nell'anno 2033". YouTube. 27 February 2011.
- ^ Wishnia, Steven (October 24, 2001). "Bad Transmission: Clear Channel's Hit List". Reviews. LiP magazine. Archived from the original on April 16, 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
- ^ "Futurama in the year 105105 time machine song". Vimeo. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ "Hear me out: why Gentlemen Broncos isn’t a bad movie" by Ryan Gilbey. The Guardian April 12, 2021. Accessed June 3, 2021.
- ^ Clash, Jim. "In The Year 2525, If Man Is Still Alive". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ "The TIME Vault: 1969". TIME.com. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ Canadian peak RPM
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1969-09-06. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – In the Year 2525". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
- ^ "Singoli – I numeri uno (1959–2006) (parte 3: 1980–1990)". It-charts.150m.com (in Italian). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
- ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. 1969-08-09. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
- ^ "Zager & Evans – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 264.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 8/09/69". tropicalglen.com. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ "Go-Set Magazine Charts". www.poparchives.com.au. Barry McKay. January 2007. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- ^ "RPM Top Singles of 1969". Library and Archives Canada. RPM. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ "Sixties City - Pop Music Charts - Every Week Of The Sixties". www.sixtiescity.net. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1969/Top 100 Songs of 1969". www.musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
- ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1969". Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
- ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ "American single certifications – Zager & Evans – In The Year 2525". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
