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
Pull Down Lads
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pass the billy round, lads
Tara to Silvie, tara to Jean
We′ll soon be on the road
Don't think on what you′re leaving
Don't think on what you've found
Just tear off the toot, pull out the chart
We′ll find another ground
Haul down, lads
It wasn′t all that grand, lads
We've made some brass, you′ve had a lass
It's perhaps as well we′re going
I know how it can hurt, lads
To leave her standing there
But there's often tears
And there′s always fears
But you'll be back next year
Pull down, lads
The sets are coming down, lads
The act's all packed and the dodging′s stacked
A bite of scran and go
We′ll leave it as we found it
They'll soon forget we′ve been
Oh, we trade in fun, and we go and come
We're often scorned and seldom mourned
Oh, I hope you know what I mean
The song "Pull Down Lads" by June Tabor is about traveling performers who are leaving one town to proceed to the next one. The song is full of metaphors and sings about a lot of things, yet the main message is clear–the show must go on, and these performers have to keep going. The song has a cheerful tune which creates an optimistic mood despite the hardships the performers face.
The first stanza talks about how the performers are excited to leave and head to the next town. The phrase "tear off the toot, pull out the chart, we'll find another ground" signifies that the performers are used to traveling and starting anew. It also indicates their joy of travelling towards new adventures.
The second stanza speaks of how they have made money, and what they call "brass". The phrase "you've had a lass, it's perhaps as well we're going" implies that they may have left some things behind, including romantic relationships. The line "you'll be back next year" helps in establishing that these performers are accustomed to traveling town to town, and their lives are a continuous cycle.
Overall, the song is both about the joy of travelling and the struggle of leaving people and things behind. It reveals how life on the road has become a routine for these performers.
Line by Line Meaning
Haul down, lads
Bring everything down, friends
Pass the billy round, lads
Share the alcohol, friends
Tara to Silvie, tara to Jean
Goodbye, Silvie and Jean
We'll soon be on the road
We will depart soon
Don't think on what you're leaving
Don't dwell on what you're leaving behind
Don't think on what you've found
Don't reminisce on what you've discovered
Just tear off the toot, pull out the chart
Just take down the tent and bring out the map
We'll find another ground
We'll discover another site
Haul down, lads
Lower everything, mates
It wasn't all that grand, lads
It wasn't that sensational, friends
We've made some brass, you've had a lass
We've earned money, you've had a lady
It's perhaps as well we're going
Maybe it is for the best that we're leaving
I know how it can hurt, lads
I know how it can be painful, friends
To leave her standing there
Leaving her behind
But there's often tears
But there are often tears
And there's always fears
And there are always fears
But you'll be back next year
But you'll return next year
Pull down, lads
Take everything down, friends
The sets are coming down, lads
The equipment is being taken down, friends
The act's all packed and the dodging's stacked
The act is prepared and the supplies are ready to go
A bite of scran and go
Have a quick bite and leave
We'll leave it as we found it
We'll leave it just as we found it
They'll soon forget we've been
They'll forget about us soon
Oh we trade in fun, and we come and go
Oh we deal in amusement, and we leave and return
We're often scorned and seldom mourned
We're frequently disdained and rarely grieved over
Oh, I hope you know what I mean
I hope it's clear what I'm saying
Writer(s): Tams John Murray
Contributed by Jayce C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Åke Andersson
Great song is allways on my mind would öove to find the text
treefrogdemon
Pull down lads, pass the bevvy round lads,
"Ta'ra" to Sylvie, "Ta'ra" to Jean, we'll soon be on the road,
Don't think on what you're leaving, don't think on what you've found,
Just tear off the tilt, pull out the chat, we'll find another ground.
Pull down lads, it wasn't a bad ground lads,
We've made some brass, you've had a lass, it's perhaps as well we're going,
I know how it can hurt, lads, to leave her standing here,
For there's often fears and there's always tears, but you'll be back next year.
Pull down lads, the sets are cooling down lads,
The Ark’s all packed and the dodgems stacked, a bite of scran then go,
We'll leave it as we found it, they'll soon forget we've been,
For we trade in fun and we go and come, we're often scorned but seldom mourned,
I hope you'll know what I mean.