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
Pavanne
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How do you love a woman
With eyes cold as the barrel of her gun?
Who's never missed her mark on anyone?
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.
Casino doors swing open, the rich men raise their eyes,
They say, "Who is this beauty as elegant as ice?"
Is lying in a pool of blood, no witness anywhere.
And they say she was a hundred miles away,
The hotel porter saw her climb the stairs
And the maid with trembling hands knows what to say
When the judge says, "Are you sure?" "I'm sure," she swears.
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
How do you love a woman
With eyes cold as the barrel of her gun?
Who's never missed her mark on anyone?
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.
At the presidential palace, a thousand people saw
His excellency leave his car and never make the door.
The blood flows from his fingers as he clutches at the stain,
He staggers like a drunken man, lies twisted in the rain.
And they say she grew up well provided for,
Her mother used to keep her boys for sure.
And father's close attentions led to talk,
She learned to stab her food with a silver fork.
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
And they say she didn't do it for the money,
And they say she didn't do it for a man.
They say that she did it for the pleasure,
The pleasure of the moment.
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
How do you stop this woman
When everyone is moving in a trance?
Like prisoners of some slow, courtly dance?
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne,
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.
The lyrics of June Tabor's song Pavanne describe a woman with a cold, steel demeanor and deadly aim. The opening lines ask the poignant question, "How do you love a woman with eyes cold as the barrel of her gun? Who's never missed her mark on anyone?" The song then goes on to describe two murders, one of a charge d'affaires and another of a president, both of which the singer implies were committed by the mysterious, cold steel woman named Pavanne.
The song's theme revolves around the idea of a woman who is capable of taking lives without remorse or emotion, and the impossibility of understanding her motivations. The chorus further highlights Pavanne's enigmatic nature, "How do you stop this woman when everyone is moving in a trance? Like prisoners of some slow, courtly dance?" It illustrates the idea that despite the horror of her actions, people are drawn to her, as if under a spell.
June Tabor's performance enhances the haunting quality of the lyrics with its mournful, funeral-like pace. The song's eerie melody and the repetition of Pavanne's name in the chorus only add to the sense of mystery surrounding this lethal woman.
Line by Line Meaning
Pavanne, cold steel woman Pavanne.
The titular character is a woman who is as cold and unyielding as steel.
How do you love a woman
With eyes cold as the barrel of her gun?
It is difficult to love someone who seems so indifferent and unapproachable.
Who's never missed her mark on anyone?
She is skilled and precise when it comes to inflicting harm on others.
Casino doors swing open, the rich men raise their eyes,
They say, "Who is this beauty as elegant as ice?"
Her presence commands attention and admiration among wealthy men.
And later there's an accident, another charge d'affaires
Is lying in a pool of blood, no witness anywhere.
A crime has been committed and no one seems to know who is responsible.
And they say she was a hundred miles away,
The hotel porter saw her climb the stairs
And the maid with trembling hands knows what to say
When the judge says, "Are you sure?" "I'm sure," she swears.
Despite being accused of the crime, she has an alibi and someone willing to vouch for her whereabouts.
At the presidential palace, a thousand people saw
His excellency leave his car and never make the door.
She has seemingly committed another crime, this time against a high-ranking government official.
And they say she grew up well provided for,
Her mother used to keep her boys for sure.
And father's close attentions led to talk,
She learned to stab her food with a silver fork.
Her privileged upbringing and dysfunctional family dynamic may be factors contributing to her violent behavior.
And they say she didn't do it for the money,
And they say she didn't do it for a man.
They say that she did it for the pleasure,
The pleasure of the moment.
Despite speculation, no one really knows what drives her to commit these crimes.
How do you stop this woman
When everyone is moving in a trance?
Like prisoners of some slow, courtly dance?
Her actions are difficult to predict and control, and it seems that those around her are too captivated by her to even try.
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne,
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.
The repetition of the song's name highlights the enigmatic and captivating nature of the character it describes.
Contributed by Dominic O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.