Pop Songs

This song about endless love was written by Jerry Livingston and Paul Francis Webster. It was released as the B-Side to “Chances Are.” Except for the bridge of the song, the tune is adapted from the old English folk song “I Gave My Love a Cherry” (aka “The Riddle Song”).  Ray Conniff and his Orchestra provide the instrumentation. In 1957, “The Twelfth of Never” went to #9 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Chart and #2 in Australia.

There have been many, many covers of the song, including versions by Cliff Richard and Donny Osmond, both of which charted very well internationally. Other artists who have covered the song, include Andy Williams, Anita Bryant, Nina Simone, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakots, Barry Gibb, Cher, Slim Whitman, Glen Campbell, Roger Miller, Johnny Nash, The Chi-Lites, Tammy Wynette, Roger Whittaker, Olivia Newton-John, Dolly Parton, and Barry Manilow, just to mention a few.

Here are the lyrics to “The Twelfth of Never” by Johnny Mathis:

You ask how much I need you, must I explain?
I need you, oh my darling, like roses need rain.
You ask how long I’ll love you; I’ll tell you true:
Until the twelfth of never, I’ll still be loving you.

Hold me close, never let me go.
Hold me close, melt my heart like April snow.

I’ll love you till the bluebells forget to bloom;
I’ll love you till the clover has lost its perfume.
I’ll love you till the poets run out of rhyme,
Until the twelfth of never and that’s a long, long time.

Until the twelfth of never and that’s a long, long time.

If you would like to read about and listen to other songs by Johnny Mathis: “Winter Wonderland” and “Chances Are.”

For More Golden Oldies Music                

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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