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
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June Tabor Lyrics
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This is my fondest wish
To go where I cannot be captured
Laid on a decorated dish
Even in splendor this curious fate
Is more than I care to surrender
Now it's too late
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
To snare the rare and precious jewels
That were only made of paste
If you should stumble upon my last remark
I'm crying in the wilderness
I'm trying my best to make it dark
How can I tell you I'm rarer than most
I'm certain as a lost dog
Pondering a sign post
Whether in wonder or indecent haste
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
To snare the rare and precious jewels
That were only made of paste
I want to vanish
This is my last request
I've given you the awful truth
Now give me my rest
In June Tabor's song "I Want to Vanish," the lyrics express a deep desire to escape from a situation or place where the singer feels trapped or targeted. The “vanish” that the singer wants could mean disappearing or dying, as they suggest in the line, “To go where I cannot be captured, laid on a decorated dish.” The singer is unwilling to surrender to their captors, even if it means living in luxury, as they say that “Even in splendor this curious fate is more than I care to surrender.”
The second verse of the song suggests that the captors may be trying to trap or deceive the singer in some way. The captors are trying to “snare the rare and precious jewels that were only made of paste.” This line could be referring to the singer themselves, as they feel that the captors are trying to capture or control them, even though they are not truly "rare and precious." In the final verse, the singer makes it clear that they want to be left alone and allowed to rest. They have shared the "awful truth" and want to be allowed to vanish.
Overall, the lyrics of "I Want to Vanish" are about feeling trapped and wanting to escape from that situation. The singer feels that they are being targeted by others who are trying to control or snare them. The desire to vanish is strong because the singer doesn't want to be captured or trapped anymore.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to vanish
I wish to disappear completely
This is my fondest wish
This is my greatest desire
To go where I cannot be captured
To find a place where no one can find me
Laid on a decorated dish
Displayed as an object for others' pleasure
Even in splendor this curious fate
Even if it looks wonderful, this strange destiny...
Is more than I care to surrender
...is not something I want to give up
Now it's too late
But unfortunately, it's already too late
Whether in wonder or indecent haste
Whether through amazement or with inappropriate speed
You arrange the mirrors and the spools
You set up illusions and tricks
To snare the rare and precious jewels
To catch the valuable and uncommon treasures
That were only made of paste
That were only cheap imitations
If you should stumble upon my last remark
If you come across my final message
I'm crying in the wilderness
I'm shouting out to the empty space
I'm trying my best to make it dark
I'm attempting to obscure my message
How can I tell you I'm rarer than most
How can I explain that I'm more unique than others
I'm certain as a lost dog
I'm as confident as a stray dog
Pondering a sign post
Thinking about where to go next
This is my last request
This is my final wish
I've given you the awful truth
I've revealed the terrible reality
Now give me my rest
Now let me be at peace
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DECLAN MACMANUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TheSpiralnotebook
Bridget O'Malley, you've left my heart shaken
With a hopeless desolation, I'll have you to know
It's the wonders of adoration your quiet face has taken
And your beauty will haunt me, wherever I go.
The white moon above the pale sands, the pale stars above the thorn tree
Are cold beside my darling, but no purer than she
I gaze upon the cold moon til the stars drown in the warm sea
And the bright eyes of my darling are never on me.
My Sunday it is weary, my Sunday it is grey now
My heart is a cold thing, my heart is a stone
All joy is dead within me, my life has gone away now
Another has taken my love for his own.
The day it is approaching when we were to be married
But it's rather I would die than live only to grieve
Oh, meet me my darling ere the sun sets o'er the barley
And I'll meet you there, on the road to Drumslieve.
Mark Pengilley
I am 66 and just discovered June Tabor. Spent my teenage years with Maddy Prior and Sandy Denny, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, Country Joe McDonald, Lindisfarne, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, not to mention the Doors, Steppenwolf etc etc but I guess I was omni-directional rather than deep...and then there were too many life distractions. Still, better late than never....just WOW.
Martin Cullwick
Been listening to this wailing woman for 35 years, and she still sings like a lark. The most influential artist in my life. May you sing for many years to come.
James Cantrell
Her voice is fabulously unique.
Rebecca Sherrod
Im just starting to listen to her. wow. I had only heard one song, but wow, her voice. mesmerizing
Chain Doyle
do you know if she is related to a violet tabor
Sophia Fake-Virus
@Rebecca Sherrod listen to Finisterre
Andre Blue
25 years for me, and I will forever melt when she sings. Glad of it.
Jim Fell
To have been a follower of folk music since my early teens in the 60's my life has been illuminated and uplifted by its performers, if only todays youth would give its beauty a listen the world would be an infinitely better place to live in.
Bjørn Sverre Kristensen
Wonderful singing, wonderful music! June Tabor; you are magnificent!
Heather Preston
Wooow. Gamekeepers: amazing. I knew I love her singing but as a youngster could she ever jump fast and accurately anywhere she chose! Thrilled you put this up, thank you!