What better way to start off the new year than looking forward to the future—in the case of today’s classic song of the day, the very distant future. The song is “In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)” by a duo called Zager and Evans. Released in April of 1969, this single hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, for six weeks running. It also peaked at #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 and Billboard’s Adult Contemporary charts, as well as topping the charts in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, West Germany, and the UK.
“In the Year 2525″ imagines humanity at various points in the future: the years 2525, 3535, 4545, 5555, 6565, 7510, 8510, and 9595—”if man is still alive.” By the time ten thousand years have passed, “man’s reign is through.” Depressing stuff.
The song was written by Rick Evans way back in 1964. Rick met up with Denny Zager two years previous to that, when they were both students at Nebraska Wesleyan University and formed a band called the Eccentrics. Rick Evans left the band in 1965 but rejoined with Denny Zager as a duo in 1968. That same year they released “In the Year 2525” on the small Truth label; the duo was signed by RCA Records in 1969 and the song rereleased nationally on that label then.
While Zager and Evans released a few more singles, “In the Year 2525” was their only hit, making them a true one-hit wonder. They released their final record in 1971, then went their separate ways. Today, Denny Zager builds custom guitars at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska. Rick Evans pretty much retired from public life and passed away in 2018 at 75 years of age.
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day. It’s the duo of Zager and Evans lip synching “In the Year 2525” on some television program in 1969. Think we’ll still be listening to this one in the year 2525?
