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
The Great Valerio
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The great Valerio is walking
The rope seems hung from cloud to cloud
And time stands still while he is walking
His eye is steady on the target
His foot is sure upon the rope
Alone and peaceful as the mountain
We falter at the sight
We stumble in the mire
Fools who think they see the light
Prepare to balance on the wire
But we learn to watch together,
And feed on what we see above
'Till our hearts turn like the seasons
And we are acrobats of love
How we wonder, how we wonder
Watching far below
We would all be that great hero
The great Valerio
Come all you upstart jugglers
Are you really ready yet?
Who will help the tightrope walker
When he tumbles to the net
So come with me to see Valerio
As he dances through the air
I'm your friend until you use me
And then be sure I won't be there
How we wonder, how we wonder
Watching far below
We would all be that great hero
The great Valerio
The Great Valerio by June Tabor is a song about a tightrope walker performing high above the crowd. The song portrays the audience as mesmerized by the skill of the performer, who seems to walk on a rope hung from cloud to cloud. Valerio is described as having a laser focus on his target and a steady foot on the rope. The sight of him walking brings a sense of awe and wonder to the audience, who see him as a great hero.
The lyrics use Valerio's incredible feat as a metaphor for love, where we all strive to balance on the wire of relationships. The line "But we learn to watch together, And feed on what we see above" suggests that we can learn from the great hero and aspire to be like him in our own relationships, becoming acrobats of love. The final stanza warns that there will always be upstart jugglers who seek to take advantage of others, and that we need to be aware and cautious of those who may use us.
Overall, The Great Valerio is a powerful and poetic song that asks us to look up at the great hero, who seems to defy the laws of gravity and time, but also reminds us to watch out for those who may not have our best interests at heart.
Line by Line Meaning
High up above the crowd
Valerio is positioned high above the audience
The great Valerio is walking
Valerio is walking on a rope above the crowd
The rope seems hung from cloud to cloud
The rope looks like it stretches from one cloud to another
And time stands still while he is walking
The audience is so captivated by his act that time appears to be standing still
His eye is steady on the target
Valerio is focused on his aim while walking on the rope
His foot is sure upon the rope
He is confident and composed while walking on the rope
Alone and peaceful as the mountain
Valerio is calm and serene while performing alone on the rope
And certain as the mountain slope
Valerio is as certain and steady as the slope of a mountain
We falter at the sight
The audience is nervous at the sight of Valerio's act
We stumble in the mire
The audience is unsure and hesitant about attempting the same stunt
Fools who think they see the light
Those who believe they have understood what Valerio does are foolish
Prepare to balance on the wire
They will try to emulate Valerio and walk on the rope
But we learn to watch together,
We as an audience learn to watch and appreciate Valerio's art together
And feed on what we see above
We draw inspiration from Valerio's performance above us
'Till our hearts turn like the seasons
We are moved by Valerio's performance in such a way that our emotions change like the seasons do
And we are acrobats of love
We are inspired to be performers of love, like Valerio is a performer of acrobatics
How we wonder, how we wonder
We are amazed and impressed by Valerio's act
Watching far below
We watch from beneath while Valerio performs above
We would all be that great hero
We wish we could do what Valerio does
Come all you upstart jugglers
The song calls out to aspiring performers
Are you really ready yet?
Are you prepared and capable of performing like Valerio?
Who will help the tightrope walker
Who will assist Valerio if he falls from the rope?
When he tumbles to the net
If Valerio falls, he will fall into a safety net
So come with me to see Valerio
The song encourages people to watch Valerio perform
As he dances through the air
Valerio's act is compared to a dance in the air
I'm your friend until you use me
The singer is friendly as long as she is not exploited
And then be sure I won't be there
If someone takes advantage of her, the singer will not stick around to help
Contributed by Joseph H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
zzcanasta
I think this is by far the best version of one of Richard Thompson's greatest songs. June Tabor's voice and the sparse accompaniment give the piece a haunting atmosphere, that sends chills up and down my spine every time I listen to it. This is a genuine work of art. Thanks for posting it.