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
Unicorns
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For friends that we had never met
Been working hard and didn't speak
The sky was grey and threatened wet
And I dreamed that I saw unicorns
Dreamed I saw them wild and white
their sudden beauty lit the world
Like a star will light a winter's night
Pure as love with manes of milk
They danced and pranced and cried aloud
Bright as rainbows round the stars
Their eyes were soft and sad and proud
And I wept for the wild and dirty world
To which this beauty now was lost
And cursed the hungry mind of man
That feeds the future at such cost
My head was bowed, my eyes were closed
When in my ears their voices rang
And these few words lodged deep inside
And in my very soul they sang
We never went away
You always knew that we were near
Remember how to look for us
You'll see we were always here
I raised my eyes to seek them out
The world was empty all around
The rain came tumbling from the sky
It drowned all dreams upon the ground
And when they asked me why I wept
Like one who for his dead love mourns
The only answer I could give
I dreamed that there were unicorns
We never went away
You always knew that we were near
Remember how to look for us
You'll see we were always here
The song "Unicorns" is an emotionally powerful ballad by June Tabor, detailing a dream she had about unicorns. The set-up for the song involves Tabor and her band traveling (presumably on tour) and feeling worn out, with the sky grey and overcast. In the midst of this mundane scenery, Tabor has an intense dream about unicorns, which she describes as being pure and beautiful, with manes of milk, prancing and crying aloud. The unicorns are a stark contrast to the "wild and dirty world" that surrounds them, and Tabor weeps for them.
Tabor's dream seems to be a kind of spiritual experience, as she hears the unicorns' voices telling her that they "never went away" and that people simply need to remember how to look for them. The song thus becomes a meditation on the importance of beauty and wonder in life, and our human tendency to ignore such things in the face of daily drudgery and concerns. The unicorn represents something magical, mysterious, and otherworldly, and Tabor implies that we all have a responsibility to seek out such things and hold them close.
In many ways, "Unicorns" is a simple song, but it is also deeply layered and emotionally nuanced. It speaks to universal themes of beauty, loss, and the search for meaning, and it does so with simplicity and grace.
Line by Line Meaning
We were traveling north to sing and play
We were heading north to perform music and have fun.
For friends that we had never met
We were going to make new friends on this trip.
Been working hard and didn't speak
We had been working hard but hadn't been talking much.
The sky was grey and threatened wet
The sky was dark and it looked like it might rain.
And I dreamed that I saw unicorns
I had a dream that I saw unicorns.
Dreamed I saw them wild and white
In my dream, the unicorns were untamed and white.
their sudden beauty lit the world
The beauty of the unicorns was so powerful that it seemed to light up the world.
Like a star will light a winter's night
The sight of the unicorns was as breathtaking as a star shining on a winter night.
Pure as love with manes of milk
The unicorns looked as pure as love itself and their manes resembled milk.
They danced and pranced and cried aloud
The unicorns danced, leaped and called out in joy.
Bright as rainbows round the stars
The unicorns shone as brightly as the rainbows that appear around the stars.
Their eyes were soft and sad and proud
The expression in the unicorns' eyes was gentle, mournful, yet dignified.
And I wept for the wild and dirty world
I cried for the world that was untamed and full of pollution.
To which this beauty now was lost
Sadly, this world had lost the beauty of nature.
And cursed the hungry mind of man
I cursed the insatiable greed of mankind.
That feeds the future at such cost
Our greed is ruining the future at a great cost.
My head was bowed, my eyes were closed
I was deeply saddened and closed my eyes in sorrow.
When in my ears their voices rang
Suddenly, the unicorns' voices could be heard in my ears.
And these few words lodged deep inside
Their message was imprinted deep inside me.
And in my very soul they sang
Their words echoed in my soul.
We never went away
The unicorns are still near.
You always knew that we were near
We have always been present, just waiting to be found.
Remember how to look for us
We can be seen if you know where to look.
You'll see we were always here
We have always been here, waiting to be discovered.
I raised my eyes to seek them out
I looked around in search of the unicorns.
The world was empty all around
The world seemed barren and devoid of life.
The rain came tumbling from the sky
The rain poured heavily from the dark sky.
It drowned all dreams upon the ground
It seemed as if the heavy rain had washed away all our hopes and dreams.
And when they asked me why I wept
Others asked me why I was crying.
Like one who for his dead love mourns
I cried like someone who had lost a love.
The only answer I could give
The only response I had was this.
I dreamed that there were unicorns
I thought of the beautiful unicorns I had seen in my dream.
Contributed by Hailey N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@charlesbarber5377
Such a beautiful song by such a wonderful folk singer
@NatsAstrea
An exceptional version of an exceptional piece of music.
@MrRoastedSnow
June Tabor is a legend. This is a beautiful song and beautifully sang
@BruceLevitan
One of the most perfect arrangements ever: June's wonderful voice and backing music from fine musicians such as Martin Simpson (guitar), Ric Sanders (violin) and Dave Bristow (piano). The words of this song are just amazing too. Just to note, it was originally on A Cut Above (1980), not Ashes and Diamonds.
@JohnSmith-vy4lh
Beautiful .
@flatus69
oh my !
@ianashleigh
Beautiful song, but from the album "A Cut Above"
@user-qx4yb9di8h
road...