In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find…
In the year 3535
Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies
Everything you think, do, and say
Is in the pill you took today
In the year 5555
Your arms are hanging limp at your sides
Your legs got nothing to do
Some machine is doing that for you
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
In the year 7510
If God’s a-comin’ he ought to make it by then
Maybe he’ll look around himself and say
Guess it’s time for the Judgement day
In the year 8510
God is gonna shake his mighty head then
He’ll either say I’m pleased where man has been
Or tear it down and start again
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
“This song means something to me because I am the one who wrote it and sang lead on the RCA release, 1969. What I wanted to say is exactly what I wrote: beware of technology and use it well lest it runs out of control and dehumanizes all of us.” Rick Evans 2015-01-29
Zager & Evans certainly wrote a “prophetic” ballad but their timeline might be a bit off. It sounds to Granny Hat like some of the doom and gloom in the song is happening right now and it is only 2020! Granny has been rocking in her chair and thinking very hard about how the world suddenly turned upside down. Topsy Turvy Town
Then this morning, she had an epiphany! It wasn’t sudden at all! Slowly but surely, while we go about our lives trying to make a buck, have some fun and live the American Dream, an enemy has been lurking out by the garden gate, stealthily creeping into our sitting rooms, whispering sweet nothings in our ears and chipping away at our defenses. The incense is burning, the green lady is strumming and thrumming by the fire until we are all in a deep sleep (The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis), then BAM! We wake up to New World Order for breakfast and we didn’t even get to see the menu! The lights are on but they look different somehow, not quite clear and bright. The jukebox keeps playing Bye Bye Miss American Pie over and over. We were just starting to get a handle on life, had our futures sort of mapped out and now the ecclesiastical futility of it all seems like the only reality.
But thankfully, there is one who never sleeps, never slumbers. He is the same yesterday, today, forever. His love is everlasting and His Word does not return void. The world is groaning loudly, but Granny’s heart is strangely stirred with a fresh breeze, a new hope. Old memories are coming back and they make more sense now than they ever did. The music did NOT die, it can’t. Stay awake and sing a new song! Be sober and of strong mind!
Sit right back and let Granny Hat tell you a little story. She won’t insult your intelligence by interpreting the fable for you. Just enjoy it and draw whatever conclusions blow in on the breeze:
THE NORTH WIND & THE SUN
The North Wind and the Sun had a quarrel about which of them was the stronger. While they were disputing, with much heat and bluster, a traveler passed along the road wrapped in a cloak.
“Let us agree,” said the Sun, “that he is the stronger who can strip that traveler of his cloak.”
“Very well,” growled the North Wind and at once sent a cold, howling blast against the traveler.
With the first gust of wind the ends of the cloak whipped about the traveler’s body. But he immediately wrapped it closely around him and the harder the Wind blew, the tighter he held it to him. The North Wind tore angrily at the cloak but all his efforts were in vain.
Then the Sun began to shine. At first his beams were gentle, and in the pleasant warmth 
after the bitter cold of the North Wind, the Traveler unfastened his cloak and let it hang loosely from his shoulders. The Sun’s rays grew warmer and warmer. The man took off his cap and mopped his brow. At last he became so heated that he pulled off his cloak, and, to escape the blazing sunshine, threw himself down in the welcome shade of a tree by the roadside. Aesop for Children Checkerboard Press New York
Granny Hat was all set to post about her road trip with the grandsons; that will be next with plenty of lovely photos. But the story of the North Wind and the Sun couldn’t wait. “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow!”
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountain; from whence shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever. Psalm 121
Granny Hat 