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
No Good at Love
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Still hoping for a better day.
But as I turned you heard me say,
I am no good at love.
Still with my heart I made so free,
Expected love accordingly,
But now I know that could not be.
I am no good, I'm too intense,
To turn my passion into sense,
Nor ever proud enough to be
Like those who take love carelessly.
I am no good at love.
There's different kinds of loneliness,
The kind you make yourself's the best.
I know because I've tried the rest.
I am no good at love.
And when self-pity makes me pray
For all the love we threw away,
Here in sweet solitude I'll say,
I am no good at love.
The lyrics of June Tabor's song "No Good at Love" are a confession of the singer's inability to give and receive love. The first verse sets the scene of a failed relationship, where the singer acknowledges the other person's desire for them to stay, but can't meet that expectation because they know they're "no good at love." The second verse reveals that the singer has "made [their] heart so free" in the past, expecting love to be reciprocated, but now realizes that love cannot be expected in return. The chorus repeats the sentiment that the singer is "no good at love," and gives reasons why, including being too intense and unable to move from passion to reason, and not being "proud enough to be like those who take love carelessly."
The final verse brings a new idea, that the singer has tried different kinds of loneliness, and the kind they make for themselves is the best. They recognize that they're not suited for intimate relationships, and instead choose self-sufficiency. The song ends on a melancholy tone, with the singer in the present moment of self-pity, reflecting on the love they've lost, and returning to the refrain that they're "no good at love."
Overall, "No Good at Love" is a poignant reflection on the challenges of love and relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
You said you wanted me to stay,
Despite my knowledge that I am incapable of love, you wanted me to remain in your life.
Still hoping for a better day.
You were still holding onto the hope that someday I would change and reciprocate your love.
But as I turned you heard me say,
As I was leaving, you heard me admit that I am not good at love.
I am no good at love.
I lack the ability to love in a way that is satisfactory for both myself and my partner.
Still with my heart I made so free,
I freely gave my heart, despite knowing that I would not be able to love in return as expected.
Expected love accordingly,
I expected love in the same way I was giving it, but I knew I was not capable of doing so effectively.
But now I know that could not be.
I now understand that my expectations of love cannot be met because of my own limitations.
I am no good at love.
I admit that I am unable to love according to what others may consider desirable.
I am no good, I'm too intense,
My passion is too strong and uncontrollable to be channeled into love that is sustainable and healthy.
To turn my passion into sense,
I am not able to make sense of my passion and control it in a way that is beneficial to myself and others.
Nor ever proud enough to be
I lack the pride in myself and my abilities to be able to handle love in a way that is mature and healthy.
Like those who take love carelessly.
I envy those who are able to handle love casually without being consumed by it.
I am no good at love.
I reiterate my admission that I am unable to love effectively in a way that is satisfactory to myself and others.
There's different kinds of loneliness,
Loneliness can come in various forms and types.
The kind you make yourself's the best.
The loneliness caused by one's own actions and shortcomings is the most painful and difficult to bear.
I know because I've tried the rest.
Through experience, I have come to the realization that the self-inflicted loneliness is the most unbearable.
I am no good at love.
I state again my lack of ability to love effectively.
And when self-pity makes me pray
During times when self-pity consumes me,
For all the love we threw away,
When I think about the love that we had and lost,
Here in sweet solitude I'll say,
In moments of peaceful loneliness, I acknowledge my incapacity to love effectively.
I am no good at love.
I conclude by admitting once more that I am not capable of loving in a way that is satisfactory to myself and others.
Contributed by Riley R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.