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
Rose Of Picardy
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Colinette with the sea-blue eyes
She is watching and longing and waiting
Where the long white roadway lies
And a song stirs in the silence
Like the wind in the boughs above
She listens and starts and trembles
Roses are shining in Picardy
In the hush of the morning dew
Roses are shining in Picardy
But there's never a rose like you
And the roses may die with the summertime
And our roads may be far apart
But there's one rose that dies not in Picardy
That's the rose that I wear in my heart
And the years roll on for ever
Till the shadow veils their skies
But still he loves to hold her hand
And look in her sea-blue eyes
And she sees the road by the poplars
Where they met in the bygone years
And the first song of the roses
Is the last song that she hears
Roses are shining in Picardy
In the hush of the morning dew
Roses are shining in Picardy
But there's never a rose like you
And the roses may die with the summertime
And our roads may be far apart
But there's one rose that dies not in Picardy
That's the rose that I wear in my heart
The song "Roses of Picardy," as sung by June Tabor, tells the story of a woman named Colinette who is waiting, watching and longing for her lover, while standing among the poplars near a long white road. The aching emotion in her heart is conveyed through an internal song that stirs within her, like the breeze that rustles the leaves above her. She is trembling because this is the first time she has ever experienced the love she feels.
The second stanza is about the shining roses in Picardy, whose beauty is incomparable to anything else. Although time passes and the roads they must travel may separate them, there is one rose that will never fade and that is the rose that lives in the heart of the singer. The following stanzas speak about a couple that has grown old together, watching the years pass by - but their love has never faded. The woman takes solace in the memory of the poplars where they met years before and feels the love of the man through the first song of the roses - which will be also the last song she hears.
This song was written in 1916, during World War I, by Fred Weatherly, a famous British lawyer, songwriter, and radio personality. Melodies were composed by Haydn Wood, and the song quickly became popular with the soldiers fighting in the French countryside. The song has had several interpretations and has been recorded by various artists, providing the message of love amid the tragedy of war.
Line by Line Meaning
She is watching by the poplars
Colinette stands by the trees, and she keeps an eye for her lover.
Colinette with the sea-blue eyes
The lady is named Colinette, and her eyes resemble the color of the sea.
She is watching and longing and waiting
Colinette watches for her lover while she misses him and awaits his arrival.
Where the long white roadway lies
She waits where the white road stretches far away.
And a song stirs in the silence
A tune arises in the quietness,
Like the wind in the boughs above
Similar to the sound of the branches swayed by the wind.
She listens and starts and trembles
Colinette listens to the song, and it makes her quiver.
For this is the first song of love
This melody is the ultimate love song the singer plays to express their love.
Roses are shining in Picardy
The singer sees radiant roses growing in Picardy.
In the hush of the morning dew
The peacefulness of the dewy morning.
But there's never a rose like you
None of the roses is as special as his beloved.
And the roses may die with the summertime
The blooming season of the roses ends with summer.
And our roads may be far apart
Even if the two go in different directions,
That's the rose that I wear in my heart
The singer carries one rose in their heart that will never fade.
And the years roll on for ever
As the years pass by,
Till the shadow veils their skies
Until they become too old,
But still he loves to hold her hand
He loves to grab her hand.
And look in her sea-blue eyes
And stare into her eyes.
Where they met in the bygone years
Colinette remembers the place where they first met and fell in love.
And the first song of the roses
That melody of the roses
Is the last song that she hears
Will be the song that she hears last in her life.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FREDERICK E. WEATHERLY, HAYDN WOOD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mark Wilson
Poignant. Brings tears at times. My Great Grandfather was killed in WWI outside Cambrai, in Picardy. I went across on the centenary of his death and the Battle of Cambrai. When I hear this I think of him, even though I only knew his wife, my Great Great Grandmother, as a boy. June Tabor's is the best version/rendition I've heard.
Diana Rosalind Land
I've been listening to lots of different renditions of this song today and this is by far the best recording by a female vocalist that I've heard.
portugasque
I entirely agree.
Chapel Keys
Beautiful
HerrCrankzy
Incredibly poignant. (who gives June or the song a thumbs down? Having bothered to listen if it's not your 'genre' say so, which you didn't, but disliking it? It's either a bit lazy of you or you have unbelievable taste in music in the worst possible sense)
firesong83
I absolutely agree with you. She reminds me a lot of Edith Piaf.
Jennifer Mercer
I Had the amazing experience of seeing this concert live. JT can make almost any song sound deep, meaningful and REAL - I had tears in my eyes. My great Uncle used to sing it to me. I'm a singer too and actually met her after the show, I told her that she was the only singer I had ever heard who never needed backing vocals. They would detract from her performances. Amazing Lady. xxx