The Twelfth of Never

Pass It On is a new, bi-weekly peek inside the heart and mind of Francis Pass…

Listen:

When I was going to radio operator school at Fort Knox in Kentucky, a surprising number of classmates were musicians.

One of ‘em was a short, blonde-headed fella who professed to have written songs for Simon and Garfunkel.

Simon and Garfunkel!?

I seriously doubted his claim.

He carried an attaché case, which was unusual for the military. I guess my skepticism got the best of him, because he dug around that ol’ leather case and pulled out a handful of handwritten lyrics. He held them up to my face and exclaimed, “See this one right here? This is the latest one I wrote with Simon and Garfunkel. I’ve written three more for them as well.”

To this day, I wonder if he was pullin’ my leg.

Maybe it wasn’t THE Simon and Garfunkel. Perhaps he wrote those songs for their cousins, George Simon and Harry Garfunkel.

Hmmm.

Anyway, back then, I used to enjoy listening to Simon and Garfunkel.

I also listened to Diana Ross and the Supremes, Elvis Presley, and even some Frank Sinatra.

Remember a band called The Tymes? It was spelled kinda funny… T-Y-M-E-S. I don’t know why they spelled it that way.

The Tymes had one song… “Until the twelfth of never and that’s a long, long time.”

Do you remember the song? I sure do.

Someone left that record at barriers, back at basecamp, so I brought it home with me.

“The Twelfth of Never” is talking about love. For some reason or another, it struck a chord with me.

I’ll love you ’til the bluebells
Forget to bloom
I’ll love you ’til the clover
Has lost its perfume
And I’ll love you ’til the poets
Run out of rhyme
Until the Twelfth of Never
And that’s a long, long time.

It’s funny how a particular song can unleash a flood of memories.

I used to kick on the record player and listen to that song all night long.

It’s kind of a lost art… dropping the needle on some vinyl and losing yourself in the music.

I miss those Tymes.

What song stirs your emotions?

I’d love to hear about it.

Be well. Stay well. Thanks for readin’…

Francis Pass

P.S. – If you even run into Mr. Simon or Mr. Garfunkel, ask them if they knew that short blonde-headed fella with the attaché case, will ya?