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
One Night As I Lay On My bed
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I thought about a pretty maid
I was so distressed,
I could take no rest;
Love did torment me so
So along to my true love I did go
And when I come to my love's window,
Saying, "It was for your sake
I'm come here so late,
Through this bitter frost and snow,
So open your window, my love, do"
"My mama and dad are both awake,
And they are sure for to hear us speak
There'll be no excuse
Then but sore abuse,
Many a bitter word and blow
So begone from my window, my love, do"
"Your mama and dad they are both asleep,
And they are sure not to hear us speak,
For they sleep so sound
On their bed of down,
And they draw their breath so low
So open your window, my love, do"
My lover rose and she opened the door,
Like an angel she stood on the floor
Her eyes did shine so bright
Like the stars at night,
No diamonds could shine so
And it's in with my true love I did go…
In the first stanza of the song, the singer is tormented by love and cannot sleep, which prompts him to visit his lover. The second stanza sees him arrive at her window and ask to be let in. However, his lover is hesitant because her parents are awake and might overhear them. In the third stanza, he persuades her to let him in by assuring her that her parents are asleep. Finally, in the last stanza, his lover relents and opens the door for him. She is described as appearing like an angel, with shining bright eyes that could outshine diamonds. The singer proceeds to go inside with his lover.
The song portrays the universal theme of forbidden love, with the singer and his lover unable to meet freely due to the opposition of her parents. It also highlights the lengths one can go for love, with the singer braving the bitter frost and snow to see his lover. There is also an emphasis on the power of persuasion, with the singer convincing his lover to let him in, using his words and tone to great effect.
Line by Line Meaning
One night as I lay on my bed,
When I was lying on my bed at night,
I thought about a pretty maid
I remembered a pretty girl I had fallen for
I was so distressed,
I was extremely troubled
I could take no rest;
I couldn't get any sleep
Love did torment me so
I was tormented by love
So along to my true love I did go
So I went to see my true love
And when I come to my love's window,
When I arrived at my lover's window
I will boldly call her by her name,
I called her by her name in a bold manner
Saying, "It was for your sake
I told her it was her I was thinking of
I'm come here so late,
That's why I came so late
Through this bitter frost and snow,
Despite the harsh weather conditions
So open your window, my love, do"
I asked her to open her window
"My mama and dad are both awake,
She said her parents were awake
And they are sure for to hear us speak
They would definitely hear us speaking
There'll be no excuse
There would be no justification
Then but sore abuse,
Only harsh words and physical abuse
Many a bitter word and blow
There would be many arguments and fights
So begone from my window, my love, do"
She asked me to leave and go away
"Your mama and dad they are both asleep,
I assured her that her parents were asleep
And they are sure not to hear us speak,
They definitely wouldn't hear us talking
For they sleep so sound
They are sleeping very deeply
On their bed of down,
On their soft bed
And they draw their breath so low
They are breathing very quietly
So open your window, my love, do"
So I requested again for her to open her window
My lover rose and she opened the door,
My lover got up and opened the door for me
Like an angel she stood on the floor
She looked as beautiful as an angel
Her eyes did shine so bright
Her eyes were sparkling and shining
Like the stars at night,
They were as bright as the stars at night
No diamonds could shine so
Even diamonds could not shine as bright
And it's in with my true love I did go…
So I went inside with my true love
Contributed by Logan L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.