In the year 2525 - wikipedia In the year 2525 `` 2525 '' redirects here. For the year 2525, see 26th century. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2014 ) `` In the Year 2525 '' German single cover Single by Zager and Evans from the album 2525 ( Exordium & Terminus ) B - side `` Little Kids '' Released 1968 ( on Truth label ) Format 7 '' Recorded 1968 Genre Folk rock Length 3 : 10 ( Truth label ) 3 : 15 ( RCA label ) Label Truth ; RCA Songwriter ( s ) Rick Evans Producer ( s ) Zager and Evans Zager and Evans singles chronology `` In the Year 2525 '' ( 1968 ) `` Mr. Turnkey '' ( 1969 ) `` In the Year 2525 '' ( 1969 ) `` Mr. Turnkey '' ( 1969 ) `` In the Year 2525 '' 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. It peaked at number one 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 originally released on a small regional record label ( Truth Records ) in 1968. Zager and Evans disbanded in 1971. Zager and Evans were a one - hit wonder, recording artists who had a number one hit and then never had another chart single. They did this in both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, which is rare. Their follow - up single on RCA - Victor, `` Mr. Turnkey '' ( a song about a rapist who nails his own wrist to the wall as punishment for his crime ), failed to hit the main music charts on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. Another single, `` Listen to the People '', managed to make the bottom slot of the Cashbox chart at number 100. Contents 1 Summary 2 Recording 2.1 Personnel 3 Legacy 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Summary `` In the Year 2525 ( Exordium & Terminus ) '' opens with the words : `` In the year 2525, If man is still alive, If woman can survive, They may find... ``. Subsequent verses pick up the story at 1010 - year intervals from 2525 to 6565. Disturbing predictions are given for each selected year. In the year 3535, for example, all of a person 's actions, words and thoughts will be preprogrammed into a daily pill. Then the pattern as well as the music changes, going up a half step in the key of the song, after two stanzas, first from A-flat minor, to A minor, and, then, finally, to B flat minor, and verses for the years 7510, 8510 and 9595 follow. The song has no chorus. The summary verse concludes : Now it 's been 10,000 years. Man has cried a billion tears, For what, he never knew. Now man 's reign is through. But through eternal night, The twinkling of starlight. So very far away, Maybe it 's only yesterday. The song goes back to the beginning, starting all over again, with 2525 before the song fades. The overriding theme, of a world doomed by its passive acquiescence to and overdependence on its own overdone technologies, struck a resonant chord in millions of people around the world in the late 1960s. Recording The song was recorded primarily in one take in 1968, at a studio in a cow pasture in Odessa, Texas. Members of the Odessa Symphony also participated in the recording. Personnel Rick Evans -- acoustic guitar, vocals Denny Zager -- acoustic guitar, vocals Mark Dalton -- bass guitar Dave Trupp -- drums Legacy The song has been covered at least 60 times in seven languages. A notable version of `` In the Year 2525 '' is sung by the Italo - French pop singer, Dalida ; another one by the UK new romantic group Visage ; another one by Greek singer Takis Antoniadis in the ' 70s. Another version, with different lyrics, was used as the theme song for the short - lived science fiction series Cleopatra 2525. The Slovenian industrial group Laibach edited the lyrics in their cover version to make it appropriate for 1994 's NATO album. In a scene from the 1992 film Alien 3, directed by David Fincher, a custodian sings a verse from `` In the Year 2525 '' as he cleans an air duct before finding evidence of an alien. The South African film 1968 Tunnel Rats directed by Uwe Boll uses the song as its title theme. The song was included in the controversial 2001 Clear Channel memorandum, a document distributed by Clear Channel Communications to every radio station owned by the company. The list consisted of 165 songs considered by Clear Channel to be `` lyrically questionable '' following the September 11, 2001 attacks. A parody version of the song appears in the Futurama episode `` The Late Philip J. Fry ''. See also 26th century Human extinction Preceded by `` Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet '' by Henry Mancini US Billboard Hot 100 number one single July 12, 1969 - August 16, 1969 ( 6 weeks ) Succeeded by `` Honky Tonk Women '' by The Rolling Stones Preceded by `` Spinning Wheel '' by Blood, Sweat & Tears US Billboard Easy Listening Singles number - one single ( Zager & Evans version ) August 16, 1969 - August 23, 1969 ( 2 weeks ) Succeeded by `` A Boy Named Sue '' by Johnny Cash Preceded by `` Crystal Blue Persuasion '' by Tommy James and the Shondells Canadian RPM 100 number - one single August 2, 1969 ( 1 week ) Succeeded by `` Baby, I Love You '' by Andy Kim Preceded by `` Honky Tonk Women '' by The Rolling Stones Swiss Singles Chart number one single August 26, 1969 ( 1 week ) Succeeded by `` Je t'aime... moi non plus '' by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin Preceded by `` Honky Tonk Women '' by The Rolling Stones UK Singles Chart number one single August 30, 1969 - September 13, 1969 ( 3 weeks ) Succeeded by `` Bad Moon Rising '' by Creedence Clearwater Revival Preceded by `` Bad Moon Rising '' by Creedence Clearwater Revival New Zealand Singles Chart number one single September 5, 1969 - September 12, 1969 ( 2 weeks ) Succeeded by `` Honky Tonk Women '' by The Rolling Stones Preceded by `` Saved by the Bell '' by Robin Gibb Irish Singles Chart number one single September 19, 1969 - September 26, 1969 ( 2 weeks ) Succeeded by `` Do n't Forget to Remember '' by The Bee Gees References Jump up ^ Roberts, David ( 2006 ). British Hit Singles & Albums ( 19th ed. ). London : Guinness World Records Limited. p. 236. ISBN 1 - 904994 - 10 - 5. Jump up ^ Miller, Nathaniel. `` Hit song of 1969 recorded in Odessa ''. News OK. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 02. ^ Jump up to : Laffer, William D. ( July 22, 1969 ). `` ' In the Year 2525 ' Began in the Year 1965 : The Anatomy of a No. 1 Record ''. The Milwaukee Journal. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ `` Drummer on only No. 1 hit to come out of Lincoln dies at 72 Local ''. Journalstar.com. 2015 - 11 - 19. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 02. Jump up ^ `` All versions of Some musics ''. Alltheversions.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010 - 10 - 05. External links Zager & Evans at Discogs Zager Easy Play Custom Guitars Zager Guitar Reviews Video on YouTube Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=In_the_Year_2525&oldid=803634393 '' Categories : 1969 songs 1969 singles Billboard Hot 100 number - one singles Billboard Adult Contemporary number - one singles UK Singles Chart number - one singles Number - one singles in Germany Number - one singles in Switzerland Number - one singles in Australia Number - one singles in New Zealand Number - one singles in Norway Irish Singles Chart number - one singles Oricon International Singles Chart number - one singles Debut singles 26th century in fiction Science fiction music RCA Records singles Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from March 2014 All articles needing additional references Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español Français Hrvatski 日本 語 Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Edit links This page was last edited on 3 October 2017, at 18 : 24. 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Question: who wrote the song in the year 2525
Answer: Rick Evans