The Twelfth of Never
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"The Twelfth of Never" is a popular song recorded by Johnny Mathis and later by 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.
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. Donny Osmond's version, produced by Mike Curb and Don Costa, was his second number one single in the United Kingdom, spending a single week at the top in March 1973. In the USA it peaked at #8.
Other recordings include Roger Miller on the 1968 album A Tender Look at Love and Jeff Buckley on Live from Sin-é. 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."