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
i wonder what's keeping my true love tonight
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wonder what's keeping you out of my sight
It is little you know of the pain I endure
Or you would not stay from me this night, I am sure
Oh love, are you coming your cause to advance?
Or yet are you waiting for a far better chance?
Are you coming to tell me you′ve a new love in store?
Oh no, I'm not coming my own cause to advance
And yet I'm not waiting for a far better chance
I′m coming to tell you I′ve a new love in store
I'm coming to tell you I love you no more
For I can love lightly and I can love strong
And I can love the old love ′til a new love comes along
I only said I loved you for to give your heart ease
But when I'm not with you, I′ll love whom I please
I've gold in my pocket and pain in my heart
For I can′t love a love with one too many sweethearts
You're my first and only false love and it's lately I knew
The longer I loved you, the falser you grew
Spring grass it grows sweetest, spring water runs clear
I′m sorry and tormented for the love of my dear
Your love it lies as lightly as the dew on the thorn
Descends in the evening, goes away with the morn
I wonder what′s keeping my true love tonight
I wonder what is keeping you out of my sight
I wonder if you know of the pain I endure
Or would you stay from me this night, I'm not sure
The song “I Wonder What’s Keeping My True Love Tonight” by June Tabor is a poignant ballad about unrequited love and heartbreak. The song describes a narrator's longing for their true love and their confusion about why they have not yet returned. The singer wonders if their love is waiting for a better opportunity to come back or if they have found someone else. They then reveal that they themselves have found a new love and no longer love their old one. The song ends with the singer reflecting on their pain and wondering if their true love knows and understands.
The use of imagery in the song is particularly powerful. The comparison of love to spring grass and water, and the metaphor of love lying as lightly as dew on the thorn represent the transient and ephemeral nature of love. The pain of unrequited love is also portrayed effectively, with lines such as “It is little you know of the pain I endure” and “I’ve gold in my pocket and pain in my heart”.
The song’s melancholy tone is heightened by June Tabor’s haunting vocals, backed by a somber acoustic guitar. The use of traditional ballad form and language also adds to the song’s emotive impact.
Line by Line Meaning
I wonder what's keeping my true love tonight
I wonder why my true love is not with me tonight
It is little you know of the pain I endure
You don't know how much it hurts me
Or you would not stay from me this night, I am sure
If you knew, you wouldn't be away from me tonight
Oh love, are you coming your cause to advance?
My love, are you coming to benefit yourself?
Or yet are you waiting for a far better chance?
Maybe you're waiting for a better opportunity
Are you coming to tell me you've a new love in store?
Are you coming to tell me you have found someone else?
Are you coming to tell me you love me no more?
Are you coming to say you don't love me anymore?
Oh no, I'm not coming my own cause to advance
No, I'm not coming for my own benefit
And yet I'm not waiting for a far better chance
But I'm also not waiting for a better opportunity
I'm coming to tell you I've a new love in store
I'm coming to tell you I've found someone else to love
I'm coming to tell you I love you no more
I'm coming to say I don't love you anymore
For I can love lightly and I can love strong
I can love without deep feelings, or with all my heart
And I can love the old love 'til a new love comes along
I can keep loving you until someone better arrives
I only said I loved you for to give your heart ease
I only said I loved you to comfort you
But when I'm not with you, I'll love whom I please
But when I'm not with you, I'll love whoever I want
I've gold in my pocket and pain in my heart
I have wealth, but I'm still hurting
For I can't love a love with one too many sweethearts
I can't love someone who has other love interests
You're my first and only false love and it's lately I knew
You were my first and only untrue love, and I've recently realized it
The longer I loved you, the falser you grew
The longer I loved you, the more untruthful you became
Spring grass it grows sweetest, spring water runs clear
Spring grass is the sweetest, spring water is the clearest
I'm sorry and tormented for the love of my dear
I'm sorry and suffering because of my love for you
Your love it lies as lightly as the dew on the thorn
Your love is fleeting, like dew on a thorn
Descends in the evening, goes away with the morn
It comes at night, and disappears in the morning
Writer(s): Dp, June Tabor, Huw Warren
Contributed by Luke G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.