The 12th of Never

[boxplayer4000]

I was aware of the tune ’12th of Never’ in the 70s when it was quite popular. In the years before and after I have been interested in Scottish and Irish music where there’s a lot of common ground. An Irish tune called ’Shanogolden’ came up and I was immediately struck with the similarities to the ’12th of Never’.

Twelfth of Never


Shanagolden

 

[JeffJetton]

Per Wikipedia:

[The Twelfth of Never] 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.

Apparently Shanagolden also borrows from The Riddle Song, which would explain the similarity.

Either way, it all reminds me of this classic "Animal House" scene...

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Per Wikipedia:



Apparently Shanagolden also borrows from The Riddle Song, which would explain the similarity.

Either way, it all reminds me of this classic "Animal House" scene...

… and then, there’s the Allan Sherman parody that goes like this:

I gave my love a cherry that had no stone,
I gave my love a chicken that had no bone,
I gave my love a baby and then you see,
My love got very angry and she said to me;

“I didn’t mind the cherry without a stone,
I didn’t mind the chicken without a bone;
But when you give a baby, there’s just one thing
You ought to give, at least, an engagement ring!”

 

[Alan Sharkis]

But seriously folks:

What they did in “The Twelfth of Never,” was to use the melody of “The Riddle Song” twice, but inserted a new melody between the two iterations to form an ABA song form and rewrite the lyrics entirely.

Johnny Mathis had the big hit recording of “The Twelfth of Never” in the US, although I’m sure it was performed by many others.

 

[Alan Sharkis]