Tabor's earliest public performances were at the Heart of England Folk Club (at the Fox and Vivian pub) in Leamington Spa in the mid 1960s. In the late 1960s an appearance at the Sidmouth Folk Festival led to folk club bookings and she contributed to various records. One of her earliest recordings was in 1972 on an anthology called Stagfolk Live. She also featured on Rosie Hardman's Firebird (1972) and The First Folk Review Record (1974). At the time she was singing purely traditional unaccompanied material but in 1976 she collaborated with Maddy Prior on the Silly Sisters album and tour, with a full band that included Nic Jones. It provided the launching pad that same year (1976) for her first album in her own right, Airs and Graces. She later joined again with Prior, this time using the name Silly Sisters for their duo. Starting in 1977 Martin Simpson joined her in the recording studio for three albums before he moved to America in 1987. (Simpson has returned from America to be a guest guitarist on albums in the 2000s.) After his departure, she started working closely with pianist Huw Warren.
In 1990, Tabor recorded an album with the folk-rock band OysterBand entitled Freedom and Rain. She went on tour with OysterBand, and the Rykodisc label published a limited-run promotional live album the following year. Many of her current fans first discovered her through this tour and album with the OysterBand. In 1992 Elvis Costello wrote "All This Useless Beauty" specifically for Tabor, and she recorded it on Angel Tiger.
Since then her solo albums have included:
A Quiet Eye (1999)
Rosa Mundi (2001)
An Echo of Hooves (2003)
At the Wood's Heart (2005)
Apples (2007)
Ashore (2011)
Ragged Kingdom is a 2011 album by June Tabor & Oysterband.
Since 2006, Tabor has also been working with Huw Warren and Iain Ballamy as Quercus.
Website: www.junetabor.co.uk
April Morning
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Twas on one April morning, I heard the small birds sing.
They were singing Lovely Nancy,
Love it is a fancy-
Sweet were the notes that I heard the small birds sing.
O young men are false and they are full of all deceiving;
Young men are false, and they never will prove true.
And their minds are ever changing
They're seeking for to find out some other girl that's new.
O if I had but my own heart in keeping,
O if I had but my own heart back again:
Safe in my bosom
I would lock it up forever
And it should wander never so far from me again.
Why must you spend all your long time in courting?
Why must you spend all your long time in vain?
For I don't intend to marry,
I would rather longer tarry.
Young man, don't you spend all your single life in vain.
The lyrics of June Tabor's song, April Morning, offer us a glimpse into a world of heartbreak and betrayal. The song describes the singer's love for a young man who, she believes, is untrustworthy and false. The song begins with a description of a beautiful April morning, with the sun rising and the small birds singing. The singer hears these birds singing a song about Lovely Nancy, a woman who is beloved but unattainable. The song's lyrics suggest that love is ultimately a fancy, a flight of fancy that small birds may sing about, but which rarely lasts.
As the song continues, the singer expresses her distrust of young men, who are "full of all deceiving." She criticizes young men for their roving ways, their constant searching for new girls to love. The singer wishes she could keep her own heart safe from this kind of betrayal, but knows that this is impossible. The song ends with a plea to young men not to spend all their time pursuing romantic love, a reminder that life is short and precious and should not be wasted on fruitless pursuits.
Overall, the lyrics of April Morning suggest a world in which love is fleeting, and trust is hard to come by. They paint a picture of a young woman who has been hurt before and is wary of being hurt again. Despite her skepticism, though, she still believes in the beauty of love and the sweetness of the small birds' songs.
Line by Line Meaning
'Twas on one April morning, just as the sun was rising,
On a particular April morning, while the sun was coming up
'Twas on one April morning, I heard the small birds sing.
During the same morning, I heard the small birds singing.
They were singing Lovely Nancy,
The birds were singing about someone called Lovely Nancy.
Love it is a fancy-
Love is a notion that one may conceive of.
Sweet were the notes that I heard the small birds sing.
The song that the birds sang was pleasant to my ears.
O young men are false and they are full of all deceiving;
Young men are often deceitful.
Young men are false, and they never will prove true.
They will never be reliable.
With their roving and their ranging
Their wandering and their unpredictable behavior
And their minds are ever changing
They change their minds frequently.
They're seeking for to find out some other girl that's new.
They are looking for another girl who is different or new.
O if I had but my own heart in keeping,
If only I could keep my own heart to myself,
O if I had but my own heart back again:
If only I could get my heart back again,
Safe in my bosom
Protected in my chest
I would lock it up forever
I would keep it safe for eternity.
And it should wander never so far from me again.
It would never stray far from me again.
Why must you spend all your long time in courting?
Why do you waste so much time trying to woo others?
Why must you spend all your long time in vain?
Why bother wasting your precious time for nothing?
For I don't intend to marry,
I have no plans to get married.
I would rather longer tarry.
I would prefer to wait longer.
Young man, don't you spend all your single life in vain.
Young man, don't waste your time trying to find love.
Contributed by Carson P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.