The Twelfth of Never

"The Twelfth of Never" is a popular song recorded by Johnny Mathis and later by other artists, including Cliff Richard and Donny Osmond. The song's title comes from the popular expression "the 12th of Never", which is used as the date of a future occurrence that will never come to pass. In the case of the song, "the 12th of Never" is given as the date on which the singer will stop loving his beloved, thus indicating that he will always love her. The song draws a similar link between the cessation of love and a number of other events expected never to happen.

Contents

• Chart performance
• Cover versions
• References

Mathis initially disliked the song, which was released as the flip side to his number-one hit single "Chances Are".

The song was written by Jerry Livingston and Paul Francis Webster, the tune (except for the bridge) being adapted from "The Riddle Song" (also known as "I Gave My Love a Cherry"), an old English folk song. Mathis's original version reached number 9 on what is now called the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA in 1957. A version by Cliff Richard was released in 1964 and reached number 8 in the UK. Donny Osmond's version, produced by Mike Curb and Don Costa, was his second number 1 single in the UK, spending a single week at the top of the UK Singles Chart in March 1973. In the U.S. it peaked at number 8.