Uploaded June 2015 | Updated September 2026, 50 minutes ago
"In the Year 2525", subtitled Exordium & Terminus, is a song by duo Denny Zager and Rick Evans (music and lyrics) that was recorded in 1964 but not released until 1968. The song became a #1 seller on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and #1 in the UK as well. Also, amidst other well know recording artists that year, "2525" took the honors for the #1. In the early 1960's, Zager and Evans put together a band called The Eccentrics at which time Evans wrote "...2525". Zager didn't like the song according to Evans, and the other band members thought the theme was too dark so Evans shelved it in 1964. Four years later after splitting up and then reuniting as a duo, Evans dusted off his foreboding song and it soon became a local nightly request. RCA Recording got wind of it, upgraded it instrumentally, and turned it into an international hit where it has been covered in seven different languages. A folky-rock feel to it, the song describes a nightmarish vision of the future as technological inventions gradually dehumanize mankind and actually gave millions of people in the 1960's something to seriously think about. The successful impact of the song can also be attributed to two futuristic movies, Planet Of The Apes, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the history making Apollo11 astronauts setting foot on the moon, all in 1969. The song has been used in movies and modern day sci-fi TV episodes. The subtitle "Exordium & Terminus" actually contradicts the song ending lyrics.
"In the Year 2525", subtitled Exordium & Terminus, is a song by duo Denny Zager and Rick Evans (music and lyrics) that was recorded in 1964 but not released until 1968. The song became a #1 seller on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and #1 in the UK as well. Also, amidst other well know recording artists that year, "2525" took the honors for the #1. In the early 1960's, Zager and Evans put together a band called The Eccentrics at which time Evans wrote "...2525". Zager didn't like the song according to Evans, and the other band members thought the theme was too dark so Evans shelved it in 1964. Four years later after splitting up and then reuniting as a duo, Evans dusted off his foreboding song and it soon became a local nightly request. RCA Recording got wind of it, upgraded it instrumentally, and turned it into an international hit where it has been covered in seven different languages. A folky-rock feel to it, the song describes a nightmarish vision of the future as technological inventions gradually dehumanize mankind and actually gave millions of people in the 1960's something to seriously think about. The successful impact of the song can also be attributed to two futuristic movies, Planet Of The Apes, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the history making Apollo11 astronauts setting foot on the moon, all in 1969. The song has been used in movies and modern day sci-fi TV episodes. The subtitle "Exordium & Terminus" actually contradicts the song ending lyrics.
