"The Twelfth of Never" is a popular song recorded by Johnny Mathis and later by 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/him. The song draws a similar link between the cessation of love and a number of other events expected never to happen.
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. Johnny Mathis's original version reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA in 1957. A version by Cliff Richard was released in 1964, making #8 in the UK. Donny Osmond's version, produced by Mike Curb and Don Costa, was his second number one single in the UK, spending a single week at the top in March 1973. In the U.S. it peaked at #8.
Other recordings include a version by Dame Gracie Fields recorded as a single in 1960, Cher for her 1966 album Cher, Roger Miller on the 1968 album A Tender Look at Love, Tammy Wynette on the 1970 album The Ways to Love a Man and Jeff Buckley on Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition). Olivia Newton-John also covered the song on her 1989 album Warm and Tender. Newton-John's version of the song and her album was produced by John Farrar. In 2005, Dolly Parton recorded the song as a duet with Keith Urban on her album, Those Were the Days. A rehearsal recording of the song by Elvis Presley also exists. It was officially released on Walk A Mile In My Shoes - The Essential 70's Masters. The English singer songwriter Sandy Denny also recorded a version of the song for a TV theme, but the recording remains un-available commercially. The Fureys did a cover version of the song in 1985 on their album At the End of the Day. Hank Marvin did an instrumental of the song in 1995 on the album Hank Plays Cliff. Barry Manilow covered the song for his 2010 release, The Greatest Love Songs of All Time.
The song was also the title of a book about convicted murderer Betty Broderick.
The Twelfth of Never is also the title of a book by Louis Nowra.
In his song "Europa and the Pirate Twins", Thomas Dolby tells the tale of two childhood friends separated by war and circumstance. Before the war, while their fathers were away, the children experience the "Twelfth of Never" on the sand, walking down the beaches holding hands.
The Earth Wind & Fire song "Fantasy" is often mistakenly referred to as "The Twelfth of Never", due to that phrase's prominence in the chorus.
The Twelfth of Never is a 1998 volume of poetry by Irish poet Ciaran Carson.
Twelfth of Never is a Massachusetts-based dark ethereal rock band which formed in 1997 and released two albums, titled Blowing Bubbles Through Broken Windows, and Things that Were.
Preceded by "Cum on Feel the Noize" by Slade |
UK Singles Chart number one single (Donny Osmond version) March 31, 1973 (1 week) |
Succeeded by "Get Down" by Gilbert O'Sullivan |
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