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
I Wonder What's Keeping My True Love Tonight?
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wonder what's keeping you out of my sight
It is little you know of the pain I endure
Or you would not stay from me this night, I am sure
Oh love, are you coming your cause to advance?
Or yet are you waiting for a far better chance?
Are you coming to tell me you've a new love in store?
Oh no, I'm not coming my own cause to advance
And yet I'm not waiting for a far better chance
I'm coming to tell you I've a new love in store
I'm coming to tell you I love you no more
For I can love lightly and I can love strong
And I can love the old love 'til a new love comes along
I only said I loved you for to give your heart ease
But when I'm not with you, I'll love whom I please
I've gold in my pocket and pain in my heart
For I can't love a love with one too many sweethearts
You're my first and only false love and it's lately I knew
The longer I loved you, the falser you grew
Spring grass it grows sweetest, spring water runs clear
I'm sorry and tormented for the love of my dear
Your love it lies as lightly as the dew on the thorn
Descends in the evening, goes away with the morn
I wonder what's keeping my true love tonight
I wonder what is keeping you out of my sight
I wonder if you know of the pain I endure
Or would you stay from me this night, I'm not sure
The song "I Wonder What's Keeping My True Love Tonight" by June Tabor is a powerful medley of both love and betrayal. The song features Tabor wondering about what might be keeping her true love out of her sight. She wonders if her true love has found another or if they have decided to end their love. Tabor sings the chorus with a powerful and emotive voice, expressing her pain and longing for her true love. She believes that her true love cannot fathom the pain she is feeling and would not choose to stay away from her if they did.
The lyrics express the fickleness of love, especially in the sense that people can feel affection for someone until something better comes along. The second verse is particularly revealing in this regard, with Tabor singing that she had a new love and that she no longer loved her previous true love. It is not clear if this is a real narrative or if Tabor is a narrator singing about a fictionalized couple. Nevertheless, the song conveys deep feelings of loss and betrayal.
Overall, "I Wonder What's Keeping My True Love Tonight" is a hauntingly beautiful song that expresses sentiments that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved and lost.
Line by Line Meaning
I wonder what's keeping my true love tonight
I am curious about what is causing my true love to be absent tonight
I wonder what's keeping you out of my sight
I am wondering about what is causing you to be away from me and not visible
It is little you know of the pain I endure
You have very little understanding of the emotional agony that I am experiencing
Or you would not stay from me this night, I am sure
If you understood my pain, you would not stay away from me tonight, I am positive
Oh love, are you coming your cause to advance?
My love, are you arriving with your own agenda in mind?
Or yet are you waiting for a far better chance?
Are you delaying your arrival in hopes of a perfect opportunity?
Are you coming to tell me you've a new love in store?
Is the reason you are coming because you have a new love interest?
Are you coming to tell me you love me no more?
Are you arriving to inform me that your love for me has ended?
Oh no, I'm not coming my own cause to advance
No, I am not arriving with my own interests in mind
And yet I'm not waiting for a far better chance
However, I am also not delaying my arrival for a better opportunity
I'm coming to tell you I've a new love in store
The reason for my arrival is because I have a new love interest
I'm coming to tell you I love you no more
I am informing you that I no longer have feelings for you
For I can love lightly and I can love strong
I am capable of both casual and intense love
And I can love the old love 'til a new love comes along
I am able to love my previous love until a new love interest appears
I only said I loved you for to give your heart ease
I only told you that I loved you to make you feel better
But when I'm not with you, I'll love whom I please
However, when I am not with you, I will love whoever I want
I've gold in my pocket and pain in my heart
I have money but my heart is still hurting
For I can't love a love with one too many sweethearts
I cannot love someone who has too many other love interests
You're my first and only false love and it's lately I knew
You are my first and only love who has been disloyal, and I've recently found out
The longer I loved you, the falser you grew
As time passed, your disloyalty became more apparent
Spring grass it grows sweetest, spring water runs clear
Nature is most beautiful in spring when the grass is sweet and the water is clear
I'm sorry and tormented for the love of my dear
I am filled with sorrow and anguish because of my love for you
Your love it lies as lightly as the dew on the thorn
Your love is as insubstantial as the dew on a thorn
Descends in the evening, goes away with the morn
It appears at night and vanishes with the morning
I wonder if you know of the pain I endure
I am uncertain if you are aware of how much I am suffering
Or would you stay from me this night, I'm not sure
I do not know if you are staying away from me tonight purposely
Contributed by Andrew Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.