Don Canney

I heard this classic Zager and Evans tune on the radio recently and gave some thought about what great prognosticators these two artists were way back in July of 1969.

Many of us remember the summer of ’69 as the summer of peace, love and the hippie movement. The war in Southeast Asia was raging, demonstrations were commonplace and civil rights were as much a story then as they are now. The smell of marijuana wafted through the halls of college dorms along with the availability of other We Nashuans were dining at HoJo’s, The Modern or Priscilla’s, shopping at Miller’s, Avards, Bergeron’s and Lynch’s and cruising around in what are now classic muscle cars worth thousands more than we paid.

But delving into the lyrics of this daunting ballad can make one realize just how right on these guys were 52 years ago.

The opening line brings us to the year 2525 and whether man will still be alive. My guess is, if that song were written today it would include women (see modified title of this column). Based upon events of just the pass year, one really has to wonder about the potential longevity of our species. A subsequent verse in the song states: “In the year 4545, Ain’t gonna need your teeth, won’t need your eyes, You won’t find a thing to chew, Nobody’s gonna look at you”

Think about that for a minute. “Noboy’s gonna look at you.” Indeed, even in spite of quarantines, our noses are buried in phones 24/7 and we hardly look at each other anymore. We’ve become a solitary society consisting of minimal live social interaction. It’s all about virtual and online. Our phones contain our life history and any ability to conduct our daily lives. If we lose our phones, we are, as they say, “Dead in the water.”

The tune goes on to state: “In the year 6565, Ain’t gonna need no husband, won’t need no wife, You’ll pick your son, pick your daughter too, From the bottom of a long glass tube Whoooa.”

We are way beyond that prediction. The first IVF test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in 1978. And she is still alive today. We’ve even manufactured sheep!

The next few verses talk about the good Lord’s opinion of what we’ve all done on this great planet and whether or not he thinks it’s time for a judgement day, whether to approve of what we’ve done, or dispose of it all and start over again. Only those who believe will form an opinion on that.

One of the most telling verses is shared toward the end of the song: “In the year 9595, I’m kinda wondering if man is gonna be alive, He’s taken everything this old earth can give, and he ain’t put back nothing…”

Another line to really think about. No need to wait until 9595. It’s becoming obvious we’ve been taking from this planet for a very long time and really, “ain’t put back nothing.” Every day we see images of trash filled oceans, wildlife extinctions, scientists warning of global warming and wild weather patterns throughout the world, some like we’ve never seen in a lifetime.

But the last verse almost seems to offer a glimmer of hope: “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…”

In calendar years, not counting the prehistoric era, it’s only been 2021 years. However, I think it’s safe to say in that short span both man and woman have cried a billion tears, a lot of those being shed just this past year.

In my lifetime I’ve lived through three wars, a presidential assassination, a presidential resignation, two presidential impeachments (with one possibly pending), a moon landing, a technological revolution that changed the way we all live, 9/11, a pandemic and most recently an insurrection at our nation’s capital.

Who knows what lies ahead? Perhaps this tune was a wakeup call for our future? Thank you, Mr. Zager and Mr. Evans. But, are we listening?

Don Canney is a freelance writer and professional voice artist. He was born and raised in downtown Nashua with great interest in Nashua history circa 1950-1970. He now resides in Litchfield.