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
Verdi Cries
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Merchant)
The man in 119 takes his tea all alone
Mornings we all rise
To while his Verdi cries
I'm hearing opera through the door
Voices rise and fall
Battle trumpets call
I fill the bath and climb inside
Singing: lala la la lala la
He will not touch that pastry but every day they bring him more
Gold from the breakfast tray
I steal them all away
And go eat them on the shore
Lala la la lala la
Lala la la lala la
I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand
Sing of the lover's fate
Ruled by jealous hate
Then go wash my hands in the sea
In just a few days more
I'd just about learned the entire score
To Aida
Holidays must end as you work on
All these memories
I take them home with me
The opera, the stolen tea,
The sand drawings, the virgin sea
Old years ago.
June Tabor's song "Verdi Cries" is a story of a man who takes his tea alone every morning in room 119, while listening to Verdi's opera through the door. The singer, who is likely a hotel worker, hears the opera and imagines passionate men and women singing, while battle trumpets sound in the background. The singer fills a bathtub with water and climbs inside, while singing la-la-la. The tea tray is brought to the man but he never touches the pastry he is offered. The singer sneaks in and steals the gold from the tray and eats the pastries on the shore. The singer draws a jackal-headed woman in the sand while singing of love's fate, then washes her hands in the sea. In a few days, she has learned the entire score to Aida. The song ends with the singer taking home memories of the opera, stolen tea, sand drawings, and the virgin sea of old years ago.
Line by Line Meaning
The man in 119 takes his tea all alone
There is a lonely man in room 119 who takes his tea in solitude.
Mornings we all rise to while his Verdi cries
Every morning, we wake up to the sound of the man in room 119 listening to Verdi's operas.
I'm hearing opera through the door
I can hear the opera playing through the door.
Souls of men and women impassioned all
The operas are filled with passionate men and women.
Voices rise and fall, Battle trumpets call
The music is dramatic and the sounds of the battle trumpets add to the intensity of the operas.
I fill the bath and climb inside, Singing: lala la la lala la
I take a bath while singing the melody of the opera.
He will not touch that pastry but every day they bring him more, Gold from the breakfast tray, I steal them all away, And go eat them on the shore
The man in room 119 never eats the pastries from his breakfast tray, but they keep delivering them every day. I steal them and eat them on the beach.
I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand, Sing of the lover's fate, Ruled by jealous hate, Then go wash my hands in the sea
I draw a woman with a jackal head in the sand and sing about the fate of lovers, ruled by jealousy. Afterwards, I wash my hands in the sea.
In just a few days more, I'd just about learned the entire score, To Aida
After a few days, I have learned most of the score from Verdi's opera Aida.
Holidays must end as you work on, All these memories, I take them home with me, The opera, the stolen tea, The sand drawings, the virgin sea, Old years ago.
As my holiday comes to an end, I take these memories with me: the opera music, the stolen tea, the sand drawings, the untouched sea; as if it all happened in a distant past.
Contributed by Zoe S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@vnvnational2237
I only discovered June Tabor today and I was thinking of how Tabor reminded me of Natalie Merchant - not in terms of vocal range but in presentation. Then I discovered this and it's an interesting interpretation of a much-loved 10,000 Maniacs classic.
@scottmitchell5199
A beautiful song,sung by a wonderful woman.
@paulcotton7128
Having just listened to the original, June Tabor has made this her own.
@papajay111
Sorry Nat this is the best!!!
@ayjaym1
An utterly beautiful poignant and definitive interpretation which in years to come will be appreciated in the same way that the reworking of Mad World by Tears for Fears unlocks the true beauty of the original
@marra4887
I hope and believe that Natalie Merchant will be pleased with this version of the song she wrote. It should be no slight on the songwriter that someone interprets your song and adds something to it - this is a very atmospheric version. Yes, I prefer it to the original.
@papajay111
Fill the bath and climb inside???? Not too pretentious!!!
@papajay111
WAY BETTER THAN NATALIE!!!
@Edward1312
Tabor has butchered what was a beautiful song, this is discordant and offends my ears.
@papajay111
Toni!! Your taste is questionable, eye of the beholder (ear) and all that considered. All cred to the original writer of course but come on,,,,, that sax and that horn mixed in with that haunting voice!!