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
Belle Rose
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
J'ai tchilyi la belle rose,
Tchi pendait au blianc rôsyi,
Belle rose,
Tchi pendait au blianc rôsyi,
Belle rose, rose au blianc.
Jé l′apportis à ma méthe,
Entre Saint Jean et Saint Ouën,
Belle rose,
Entre Saint Jean et Saint Ouën,
Belle rose, rose au blianc.
Jé n'y tchis pon becque à barbe,
Jé n′y tchis pon becque à barbe,
Qu′auve lé rossîngno chantant,
Belle rose,
Qu'auve lé rossîngno chantant,
Belle rose, rose au blianc.
Tchi dîthait dans san langage,
Tchi dîthait dans san langage,
Mathie-té, fil′ye dé tchînze ans
Belle rose,
Mathie-té, fil'ye dé tchînze ans,
Belle rose, rose au blianc.
À tchille âge qué j′mé mathiêthai?
À tchille âge qué j'mé mathiêthai?
Mé tchi n′ai pon mes tchînze ans,
Belle rose,
Mé tchi n'ai pon mes tchînze ans,
Belle rose, rose au blianc.
Combein qu'tu gângne, ma belle?
Combein qu′tu gângne, ma belle?
Combein qu′tu gângne par an?
Belle rose,
Combein qu'tu gângne par an?
Belle rose, rose au blianc.
Veins acanté mé, ma belle,
Veins acanté mé, ma belle,
Et tu′en gângn'nas autant,
Belle rose,
Et tu′en gângn'nas autant,
Belle rose, rose au blianc
The song Belle Rose is a traditional Guernsey folksong that June Tabor recorded for her album Apples in Winter. The song tells the story of a young girl who finds a beautiful white rose hanging from a rosebush. She picks the rose and brings it to her mother. The song then moves on to the girl hearing the nightingale sing and the girl wondering why she doesn't feel as happy as she did when she was fifteen. The song ends with the girl asking the rose how much money it makes and the rose responding that she would make just as much money as the girl if she were to sell herself.
The lyrics of the song are simple and come across as a reflection of the simple life in Guernsey. June Tabor’s rendition of the song adds depth to the lyrics with her focus on the melody and her clear, rich singing voice. Through her interpretation, she brings the song to life and makes it accessible to a broader audience.
Line by Line Meaning
J′ai tchilyi la belle rose, J'ai tchilyi la belle rose, Tchi pendait au blianc rôsyi, Belle rose, Tchi pendait au blianc rôsyi, Belle rose, rose au blianc.
I picked a beautiful rose that was hanging on a white rosebush, and it was a white rose with a pink tint.
Jé l′apportis à ma méthe, Jé l'apportis à ma méthe, Entre Saint Jean et Saint Ouën, Belle rose, Entre Saint Jean et Saint Ouën, Belle rose, rose au blianc.
I brought the rose to my mother, somewhere between the holidays of St. John and St. Owen, and it was still the same beautiful white and pink rose.
Jé n'y tchis pon becque à barbe, Jé n′y tchis pon becque à barbe, Qu′auve lé rossîngno chantant, Belle rose, Qu'auve lé rossîngno chantant, Belle rose, rose au blianc.
I didn't go there to talk with the bearded ones, only to listen to the nightingales singing nearby the beautiful rose that I had picked.
Tchi dîthait dans san langage, Tchi dîthait dans san langage, Mathie-té, fil′ye dé tchînze ans Belle rose, Mathie-té, fil'ye dé tchînze ans, Belle rose, rose au blianc.
The nightingale sang in its native tongue, 'Mathie, a fifteen-year-old girl' near the beautiful white and pink rose that was picked.
À tchille âge qué j′mé mathiêthai? À tchille âge qué j'mé mathiêthai? Mé tchi n′ai pon mes tchînze ans, Belle rose, Mé tchi n'ai pon mes tchînze ans, Belle rose, rose au blianc.
I wondered at what fifteen years old I must have been smitten with love, but I am not yet fifteen, standing beside the beautiful white and pink rose.
Combein qu'tu gângne, ma belle? Combein qu′tu gângne, ma belle? Combein qu′tu gângne par an? Belle rose, Combein qu'tu gângne par an? Belle rose, rose au blianc.
I asked the beautiful rose how much money she made every year, and it was just a beautiful white and pink rose without any monetary value.
Veins acanté mé, ma belle, Veins acanté mé, ma belle, Et tu′en gângn'nas autant, Belle rose, Et tu′en gângn'nas autant, Belle rose, rose au blianc.
I sang to the beautiful rose and said, 'Come sing with me, my beauty, and you will earn the same as me,' even though the rose could not sing and had no monetary gain.
Writer(s): Dp, Mark Emerson, June Tabor, Richard James Bolton, Huw Warren
Contributed by Micah M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.