"In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. A "one-hit wonder", it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks starting July 12, 1969.The Hot 100, Week of July 12, 1969 – Billboard. 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 7,000-year span: 2525, 3535, 4545, 5555, 6565, 7510, 8510, and 9595. It predicts that humanity's thoughts, relationships and bodies will be negatively impacted by technological advances and ends with mankind's extinction.
Production The song was produced by Tommy Allsup. Allsup played lead guitar as a member of Buddy Holly's band The Crickets. While touring in 1959 with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, he lost a fateful coin toss with Valens for a seat on the plane that crashed, killing Valens, Holly, Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson on February 3, 1959 (The Day the Music Died).
Recording The song was recorded in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas.
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. Once it made the Hot 100, the track took three weeks to reach number 1. Cultural significance In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, the song was included in the Clear Channel memorandum which was distributed to radio station owned by Clear Channel Communications, listing 165 songs considered to be "lyrically questionable."
Chart history
Weekly charts Charts (1969–1970)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)2Canada (RPM) Top SinglesCanadian peak RPM1Canada (RPM) Adult Contemporary1Italy (FIMI)47New Zealand (Listener)1UK1US Billboard Hot 1001US Billboard Adult Contemporary1US Cash Box Top 1001West-Germany [Gfk]1
Year-end charts Chart (1969)RankAustralia32Canada15UK12US Billboard Hot 10026US Billboard Easy Listening37US Cash Box11West-Germany15
All-time charts Chart (1958–2018) PositionUS Billboard Hot 100298
Certifications
See also 26th century Brave New World Dystopia Human extinction Human impact on the environment Anthropocene List of one-hit wonders on the UK Singles Chart List of one-hit wonders in the United States
References
External links
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