June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is considered one of… Read Full Bio ↴June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is considered one of the foremost English folk singers of her generation. Aside from her highly-acclaimed solo music career, she has also combined her talents with greats such as Maddy Prior (as one half of Silly Sisters), Martin Simpson, Elvis Costello and Oysterband. In 2004, and again in 2012, she was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. In 2011 the album "Ragged Kingdom" by June Tabor & Oysterband was named "Album of the Year" in the fROOTS critics poll.

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

Body and Soul
June Tabor Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

My heart is sad and lonely
For you I sigh, for you dear only
Why haven't you seen it
I'm all for you body and soul

I spend my days in longing
And wondering why it's me you're wronging
I tell you I mean it

I'm all for you body and soul

I can't believe it
It's hard to conceive it
That you'd turn away romance
Are you pretending
It looks like the ending
Unless I could have just one more chance to prove, dear

My life a wreck you're making
You know I'm yours for just the taking
I'd gladly surrender myself to you body and soul

My life a wreck you're making

You know I'm yours for the very taking
I'd gladly surrender myself to you body and soul

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of June Tabor's song "Body and Soul" convey themes of love, longing, and surrender. The singer in the song is deeply in love with someone who seems to be ignoring or neglecting their affections. The opening lines, "My heart is sad and lonely, for you I sigh, for you dear only," establish the emotional intensity of the singer's feelings. They are completely devoted to the object of their love, expressing a desire to give themselves up entirely ("I'd gladly surrender myself to you body and soul").

As the song continues, the singer expresses frustration and confusion over the other person's apparent lack of interest. They wonder why they are being "wronged" and question whether the other person is "pretending." Despite all of this, the singer remains resolute in their love and remains hopeful for a chance to "prove" themselves.

Overall, the lyrics of "Body and Soul" present a powerful portrayal of the complexities of love and the often painful emotions that come along with it. The listener is drawn into the singer's intense feelings and their desire to surrender themselves completely to the object of their affection.

Line by Line Meaning

My heart is sad and lonely
I feel very unhappy and lonely inside

For you I sigh, for you dear only
You're the only one for whom I long and pine

Why haven't you seen it
I wonder why you haven't noticed my feelings for you

I'm all for you body and soul
I am completely devoted to you emotionally and physically

I spend my days in longing
My days pass with intense yearning for you

And wondering why it's me you're wronging
I'm troubled why you're causing me distress and making me feel miserable

I tell you I mean it
I'm telling you that I'm not joking about my feelings

I'm all for you body and soul
I am completely devoted to you emotionally and physically

I can't believe it
I'm finding it hard to believe

It's hard to conceive it
It's difficult for me to imagine that you would do this to me

That you'd turn away romance
I'm surprised that you're rejecting a romantic relationship with me