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The Twelfth of Never

"The Twelfth of Never" is a popular song written in 1956 and first recorded by Johnny Mathis the following year. The title is a popular expression, which is used as the date of a future occurrence that will never come to pass.[1] 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 him or her.

This article is about the Johnny Mathis song. For the idiom, see List of idioms of improbability. For the James Patterson novel, see 12th of Never (novel).

"The Twelfth of Never"

12 August 1957

2:25

"I'm Afraid to Go Home"

2 October 1964

23 June 1964 (1964-06-23)

"Life Is Just What You Make It"

February 24, 1973

November 27, 1972

2:40

Mathis initially disliked the song, which was released as the flip side to his number 1 hit single "Chances Are".[2]


It 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.[3] A version by Cliff Richard was released in 1964 and reached number 8 in the UK.[4] 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.[5] In the U.S. it peaked at number 8.[6]

1963: recorded her version on her album Folksy Nina.

Nina Simone

1970: recorded her version on her album The Ways to Love a Man.

Tammy Wynette

1977ː on his album David Houston (single, reached #98 on US Billboard Country chart)

David Houston

1989: on her 1989 album Warm and Tender.

Olivia Newton-John

1993: : performed and recorded at his live performance and album Live at Sin-é

Jeff Buckley

1995: : a rehearsal recorded in 1974 was released as a single and reached #21 in the UK.

Elvis Presley

2005: and Keith Urban on Parton's album Those Were the Days

Dolly Parton

2018: did a version in Dutch on his album Magistraal, the non-existing date translated as '30 Februari'.

Jan Rot

Ewen, David (1977). . Prentice Hall. p. 539. ISBN 0-13-022442-1. Retrieved 2007-03-25.

All the Years of Popular Music

Obert, Julia C. (2015). (reprint ed.). Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815653493. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

Postcolonial Overtures: The Politics of Sound in Contemporary Northern Irish Poetry