The Songs We Will Sing.

# In the Year 2525: Zager & Evans: 1969

This is the last blog for 2022 and it’s a wrap! We have come to the final Songs we will Sing. We have been singing all the way through 2022, we have covered about 85 songs from different genres, artists and groups; the songs have always told a story. We have sung from the heart about love, loss, drying our eyes and bitter sweet symphonies; we have sung about time, feelings and being still; we have sung about children, innocence, being forever young, growing old, mourning and dying; we have sung about destruction, peace, silence, going placidly and that it’s a long way to the top; we have sung about words; going to the end of the line, going home, finding our way home and that all things must pass; we have sung about days, taking one day at a time, Mondays,Tuesdays, Fridays and mornings that have broken; we have sung about money, signs, pianos, guitars and dreams; we have painted the sky with stars, worn flowers in our hair, been to Atlantis, Africa, Australia, Baker Street, San Francisco and the dark side of the moon; we have sung anthems, old hymns, sung about churches in our hearts, prayer and heaven. You get the picture! Wasn’t it wonderful? I had such a lovely time this year, always amazed at the wonderful lyrics and absolute talent of so many.

So as we come to the end of the year it is appropriate to sing a Z song, Zager & Evans 1969 one hit wonder In the Year 2525. The lyrics of this song are dystopian and in 1969 were well ahead of their time. The song has been covered 35 times and made a resurgence during Covid when fear, doom and gloom spread even faster than the virus. There are several video clips on You Tube with each one becoming more disturbing. I was unable to load an original clip of Zager & Evans and so give credit to Pete Stark for the video and remix of the song.

The lyrics explore mans’ ceaseless appetite to interfere with the natural rhythms of nature to the point where man is alive yet dead. It is a sobering glimpse into the future we are creating. Do we want to stand with those who have taken everything earth had to give and put nothing back? Are we prepared for God to shake his mighty hand when it’s time for judgement day? Sobering lyrics indeed! Maybe it is just the songs that appeal to me but I cannot help but notice in so many of the secular songs that we sing God, heaven, prayer and references to our spiritual nature are an ever recurring theme.

As we enter a New Year I wish you every opportunity to be blessed, to grow in grace, to have open hearts and hands, to grow both personally and spiritually, to be courageous, to be purposeful, to be the change you want to see, for it is the small things we do which can bring about big changes.

Happy New Year. 2023.