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