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 Irish Girl
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the sandywort sped on before the ocean's blast
The grass ran like lemmings for the dune's high edge
And I thought it meant like the grass
We bend in the driving gale
And scarcely paused to think what makes the wind so strong
Or if there's a refuge from the driver's flag
But then I heard the saddest song
The Irish Girl
Her eyes through a sparkling red
Like raindrops on a laurel when the moon appears
She sang of her sorrow through the stinging spread
And through the sweeter brine, the salt of tears,
I weep for the lost of a love
Who's gone brooding now and silent as a standing stone
Two sides of a coin we rolled a battered roll
But in time he chose to leave alone
His Irish Girl
His Irish Girl
I touched her and spoke my name
For it seems she didn't know me for the song she sang
She said, oh I know your face but here's the shame
For though I knew the boy, who knows the man
And I wept who might turn for the fool
Who never saw the joys that make a blind man smile
Seeking his fortune while the brightest jewel
Was within his reach all the while
The Irish Girl
His Irish Girl
The Irish Girl by June Tabor is a poignant ballad about a woman's sorrowful journey of love and loss. The lyrics are introspective and thought-provoking as they explore the metaphor of nature to the experiences of the singer. The singer narrates their walk on a northern shore, where they observe the power of nature as grass and sandywort are sway by the ocean's blast. They use the metaphor to describe how humans, like grass, bend and sway in the driving gale of life's challenges. The singer contemplates if there's a refuge from life's drivers before they hear the saddest song of the Irish girl, who captures the singer's attention.
The Irish girl's sorrowful song is sung with so much emotion, and her eyes sparkled like raindrops on laurel. She sings of her lost love, who has gone brooding and silent as a standing stone. The two sides of the coin, once rolled together, now separate, as the man chooses to leave her alone in her misery. The singer touches her and utters their name, but the Irish girl seems to be lost in her song. She weeps for the love she has lost, who never saw the joys that make a blind man smile. The Irish girl reveals her disappointment to the singer, and they both share a moment of understanding about the meaning of love and what makes it worth holding onto.
Line by Line Meaning
I walked on a northern shore
I strolled along the bank in the north.
Where the sandywort sped on before the ocean's blast
Where plants were swaying in the wind before the sea's force.
The grass ran like lemmings for the dune's high edge
The grass was moving like little rodents towards the incline.
And I thought it meant like the grass
I understood that the grass symbolized our behavior.
We bend in the driving gale
We are trying to withstand the strong wind.
And scarcely paused to think what makes the wind so strong
We hardly stopped to contemplate what creates this powerful wind.
Or if there's a refuge from the driver's flag
Or whether there is a shelter from the storm's furiousness.
But then I heard the saddest song
But then I heard the most sorrowful melody.
Of the Irish Girl
The song was about an Irish Girl.
Her eyes through a sparkling red
Her eyes were red and shiny.
Like raindrops on a laurel when the moon appears
Her eyes were glistening like dewdrops on a laurel tree at nightfall.
She sang of her sorrow through the stinging spread
She sang about her sadness with a sense of bitterness throughout the room.
And through the sweeter brine, the salt of tears,
Between moments of gentler weeping, her tears were salty and bitter.
I weep for the lost of a love
She was mourning the loss of a love.
Who's gone brooding now and silent as a standing stone
The one she loved is gone, now inscrutable and silent.
Two sides of a coin we rolled a battered roll
They had opposite personalities, but shared difficult experiences.
But in time he chose to leave alone
But eventually, he decided to go and leave her behind.
His Irish Girl
The girl singing the song was his Irish girl.
I touched her and spoke my name
I reached over and introduced myself to her.
For it seems she didn't know me for the song she sang
It appeared as though she didn't recognize me because of her song.
She said, oh I know your face but here's the shame
She acknowledged that she recognized me, but felt regretful for not remembering my name.
For though I knew the boy, who knows the man
She knew the person I used to be, not necessarily the person I am now.
And I wept who might turn for the fool
I cried because I realized how foolish it was to not appreciate what I had.
Who never saw the joys that make a blind man smile
Never recognizing the simple pleasures that bring happiness to all, even those who can't see.
Seeking his fortune while the brightest jewel
I was looking to improve my lot in life, ignoring the true treasures.
Was within his reach all the while
The girl standing singing right in front of me was the true treasure I never recognized.
The Irish Girl
The song was about a girl from Ireland who is singing.
Contributed by Mason H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.