A love song?--Johnny Mathis in 1957

The Twelfth Of Never
Johnny Mathis
(Written by Paul Francis Webster and Jerry Livingston)

Peaked at # 9 in 1957
Later charted by The Chi-Lites at # 122 in 1969 as "B" side of their "Let Me Be the
Man My Daddy Was"
Also charted by Donny Osmond at # 8 in 1973
The melody of this song was taken from the 16th-century English folk song "I Gave
My Love a Cherry" (a/k/a "The Riddle Song")


You ask me 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 'til the bluebells forget to bloom
I'll love you 'til the clover has lost its perfume
I'll love you 'til 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

Many thanks. I heard pretty much the same thing from another source. I had a Senior Moment and forgot Johnny Mathis. But, what IS the "...Twelfth of Never..."? I mean, what does it mean? Is it like a "Month of Sundays"? Or maybe "Forever and a Day"? Or maybe "Into Next Tuesday"? I love it. Very mysterious.

It's been the Twelfth of Never since I heard that song on the radio.
Thanks again.

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