Valerie June (born Valerie June Hockett in 1982) is an American singer, son… Read Full Bio ↴Valerie June (born Valerie June Hockett in 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Memphis, Tennessee. She began recording and performing in 2001, initially with her then-husband in the duo Bella Sun. In her solo work her sound encompasses a mixture of folk, blues, gospel, soul, country, Appalachian and bluegrass.
If June had been a roots artist in America 80 years ago, and she often sings as if she was, she might have been a principle influence on today's myriad retro troubadours, hers a stunningly emotive amalgamation of blues, folk, gospel, soul, Appalachian and bluegrass (including irresistible banjo). She exists, however, today, an artist as modern as an iPod Shuffle, a musician for the generation which carries the entire history of recorded music so casually inside its phone.
Like a potent distillation bubbling on a Prohibition-era porch, Valerie June makes self-styled “organic moonshine roots music”, music for the porch parties of today, a party where she strums her guitar, plucks her banjo, opens her mouth and delta-blues-country stridently sashays out, a stunning peal somewhere between Dolly Parton and Billie Holiday. Or is it more Wanda Jackson and Shirley Goodman, you know, from Shirley & Co, who sang Shame Shame Shame so disco friskily in 1974? Valerie June does this to you: reaches inside your musical brain and shakes it, unleashing ghosts, emotions and memories, all fluttering like countless musical flakes inside the snowglobe of your mind.
A self-taught musician, singer and song-writer from small-town Humboldt, Tennessee (population 8,000), she honed her astonishing sound in the vibrant Memphis atmosphere, her spectrum of influences the history of music itself: Elizabeth Cotten, Leadbelly, The Carter Family, Whitney Houston, Van Morrison, Dolly Parton, Roscoe Holcomb, Woody Guthrie, Nico, Junior Kimbrough, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tracey Chapman, Billie Holiday, The Rolling Stones, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt, Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, Elmore James, Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, Memphis Minnie...
“Being from Jackson and Humboldt, Tennessee, I was raised one hour from Memphis and two hours from Nashville,” lilts Valerie June, in her sing-song, southern belle way. “It was and still is hard to go anywhere without hearing
country and blues music. It always reminds me of home. It's the place in art where the colour lines of the South seem to blend.”Her debut album, though, is that most rare of contemporary concepts: unique.
Pushin' Against A Stone, released on Rob da Bank's stellar boutique label Sunday Best, was mostly recorded at The Black Key's Easy Eye studio in Nashville. Produced by Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) and Kevin Augunas (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Florence & The Machine) it's a sonic postcard from the universe, where the atoms of history live.
“I just love old records,” she smiles, a beautiful woman with old-school dreadlocks spiraling out towards freedom. “I like the crackle, the gritty sound. So do a lotta other people! I think we just wanna hear real music. Alongside the modern beat-machine music. For a while it was only moving in a new direction and people started missing the old stuff. I think it's something people long for.”
The debut single, Workin’ Woman Blues, is a riot, a brand new bona-fide blues-pop anthem, as if Bobbie Gentry fronted a Stax soul-revue, those mesmerising vocals telling it how it is: “I ain't fit to be no mother, I ain't fit to be no wife, yeah, I been workin' like a man, y'all, I've been working all my life.” Elsewhere, there's the delicate yet rousing triumph of Somebody To Love (featuring the iconic Booker T. Jones), the traditional folk-gospel charm of Trials, Troubles, Tribulations, the spectral, swampy wooziness of Pushin' Against A Stone (The Specials meets Phil Spector) and the dizzy, harmonised, Shangri-La sashay of Wanna Be On Your Mind, Valerie June's voice sounding, somehow, both as old and wise as mother nature and as playfully naïve as a schoolgirl skipping home. Staggeringly, she'd never worked with a producer before, the experience opening her up to infinite new atmospheric possibilities.
“It was different,” she says. “ I'd been holding on to a particular image of what I wanted to be as a folk musician, a country musician, a southern roots musician. But when I heard the producers' ideas I thought, 'think bigger'. I looked at the careers of Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Joan Baez and they’ve put out all kinds of
music over the course of their careers so far. If I wanna put out a punk rock record next week, that's me. It's all coming from me. Even if I have to continue juggling jobs, I am a career artist.”
We don't hear so much, these days, from the old-school working class girls, the ones who can't afford the freedom to pursue their most daring dreams. Valerie June, the eldest girl of five kids (who'd often pretend to be the Jackson Five), first learned to sing in church, both a black church and later, a white church, when her family moved to the country. People sang in church, “even when they couldn't sing” and she'd mimic them all, “from homeless people to wealthy people until my own voice just started coming out, a mixture of everyone”. She had her first jobs as a teen, helping her dad, both a promoter for local gospel singers and in the construction business (she'd hang posters in town and then head to the demolition sites). Soon she was constantly singing, writing songs, a freedom-seeking spirit who went travelling as a wandering songbird up and down the American west coast, then the east coast, a gypsy nightingale and holistic craftswoman who'd sing for tips in subway stations and sell her own handmade soap. By the time she moved back to Memphis in 2000, she had a plethora of songs written and finally taught herself guitar and banjo, as neighbourhood eyes were raised. “Black people aren't supposed to play the banjo,” she laughs, “it's seen as country and bluegrass but it's an African instrument. I love it.” Soon, she was testing out her tentative musical skills in Memphis bars and restaurants, “which was more teaching myself in front of people,” she notes. “Memphis is a good town for being born as an artist. If you make a mistake people are like, 'we heard the good part'. They nurture you. You can take your time.”
With a dream to make a studio album and no cash to fund it, “it's hard to think about making a record when you've gotta pay rent”, she went to work full-time, now tunneling her way to freedom like Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption through daily, determined graft. She took on numerous service jobs: housekeeper, dog-walker, babysitter, vegetarian meal cooker, house sitter and personal assistant to the wealthy. And that was just the morning. “In the
afternoon, I'd work in a herb shop, Maggie's Pharm. Then I would go play a gig, just me and my guitar.”
She began to musically emerge, playing the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival, the International Folk Alliance Conference, the Cooper-Young Festival, the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, AR, finally making enough money for three lo-fi recordings which she sold as CDs on tour: the raw, acoustic The Way Of The Weeping Willow (recorded in an 1800s farmhouse), the vocally mesmerising Mountain Of Rose Quartz and the haunting Valerie June And The Tennessee Express, a collaboration with Nashville bluegrass troupe The Old Crow Medicine Show (who've toured with Mumford & Sons). “They're very successful at what they do, they loved my music and said 'hey, don't worry about money just come and record a few songs with us'.”
In 2009 she was a featured artist on MTV's online series $5 Cover (following the lives of Memphis musicians attempting to make ends meet) and eventually raised $15,000 through crowd-funding website Kickstarter to record a debut album proper. Then, the universe intervened: through word-of-mouth, the manager for producer Kevin Augunas heard Valerie's music, sent it to Augunas, who loved it so much he flew into Memphis the following day. He asked who she'd like to write with and she suggested Dan Auerbach, whose solo work she'd loved (and who had recently moved to Nashville). Valerie, deliberately, had never signed to a record label before, although there had been no shortage of offers from both major and independent US-based labels, and was spotted playing in France by Sunday Best's label partner Sarah Bolshi. “I never signed a label deal because it didn't feel right,” she says. “I need to be with people who not only like this record but my stripped down stuff too. People will tell you, 'you can do whatever you wanna do with our label'. I didn't trust anybody telling me that until I met Sarah! And it's more me, a speciality label.”
Pushin' Against A Stone is so-called because that's the story of her life - and the story of her forebears, too. “I feel I've spent my life pushing against a stone,” she says. “And the jobs I've had have been fitting for getting a true feel for how
the traditional artists I loved came home after a hard day to sit on the porch and play tunes until bedtime. That’s one reason why they were older before anybody cared. When I first started playing instruments I thought, OK, I'm probably not gonna be the next Beyonce, this is not gonna happen for me until I'm very very old. Like...Seasick Steve! Who I love. And then maybe somebody will come see me play in my shack in Mississippi. That's kinda how it is for many artists who make roots music. So I'm just really happy it's happening now and I'm not up there with my cane.”
Good things come to those who wait and Valerie June's time is now, the last year bringing rave reviews at SXSW, a collaboration with Grammy-nominated Fugees producer John Forte (on the hip-hop-blues song Give Me Water) as the word-of-mouth whisper has gradually grown into a collective global holler. This September, one of her friends sent her a Facebook message saying she'd seen a video of her glorious Bestival Performance. “And she said, 'you're gonna be a huge star',” smiles the captivating Valerie June. “A while ago I would've been like, I dunno about being a huge star. But now I'm like, you know what? If I can get a break? I will take it. I deserve it. I have paid my dues! I can't work on Maggie's Pharm no more. If you wanna bring me a coffee, yeah, I'll let you bring it. Because I have been the person bringing the coffee. I don't need any more experience in that. Now, being a queen? M'Kay! I think I can use a little spoiling. Bring it on.”
If June had been a roots artist in America 80 years ago, and she often sings as if she was, she might have been a principle influence on today's myriad retro troubadours, hers a stunningly emotive amalgamation of blues, folk, gospel, soul, Appalachian and bluegrass (including irresistible banjo). She exists, however, today, an artist as modern as an iPod Shuffle, a musician for the generation which carries the entire history of recorded music so casually inside its phone.
Like a potent distillation bubbling on a Prohibition-era porch, Valerie June makes self-styled “organic moonshine roots music”, music for the porch parties of today, a party where she strums her guitar, plucks her banjo, opens her mouth and delta-blues-country stridently sashays out, a stunning peal somewhere between Dolly Parton and Billie Holiday. Or is it more Wanda Jackson and Shirley Goodman, you know, from Shirley & Co, who sang Shame Shame Shame so disco friskily in 1974? Valerie June does this to you: reaches inside your musical brain and shakes it, unleashing ghosts, emotions and memories, all fluttering like countless musical flakes inside the snowglobe of your mind.
A self-taught musician, singer and song-writer from small-town Humboldt, Tennessee (population 8,000), she honed her astonishing sound in the vibrant Memphis atmosphere, her spectrum of influences the history of music itself: Elizabeth Cotten, Leadbelly, The Carter Family, Whitney Houston, Van Morrison, Dolly Parton, Roscoe Holcomb, Woody Guthrie, Nico, Junior Kimbrough, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tracey Chapman, Billie Holiday, The Rolling Stones, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt, Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, Elmore James, Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, Memphis Minnie...
“Being from Jackson and Humboldt, Tennessee, I was raised one hour from Memphis and two hours from Nashville,” lilts Valerie June, in her sing-song, southern belle way. “It was and still is hard to go anywhere without hearing
country and blues music. It always reminds me of home. It's the place in art where the colour lines of the South seem to blend.”Her debut album, though, is that most rare of contemporary concepts: unique.
Pushin' Against A Stone, released on Rob da Bank's stellar boutique label Sunday Best, was mostly recorded at The Black Key's Easy Eye studio in Nashville. Produced by Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) and Kevin Augunas (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Florence & The Machine) it's a sonic postcard from the universe, where the atoms of history live.
“I just love old records,” she smiles, a beautiful woman with old-school dreadlocks spiraling out towards freedom. “I like the crackle, the gritty sound. So do a lotta other people! I think we just wanna hear real music. Alongside the modern beat-machine music. For a while it was only moving in a new direction and people started missing the old stuff. I think it's something people long for.”
The debut single, Workin’ Woman Blues, is a riot, a brand new bona-fide blues-pop anthem, as if Bobbie Gentry fronted a Stax soul-revue, those mesmerising vocals telling it how it is: “I ain't fit to be no mother, I ain't fit to be no wife, yeah, I been workin' like a man, y'all, I've been working all my life.” Elsewhere, there's the delicate yet rousing triumph of Somebody To Love (featuring the iconic Booker T. Jones), the traditional folk-gospel charm of Trials, Troubles, Tribulations, the spectral, swampy wooziness of Pushin' Against A Stone (The Specials meets Phil Spector) and the dizzy, harmonised, Shangri-La sashay of Wanna Be On Your Mind, Valerie June's voice sounding, somehow, both as old and wise as mother nature and as playfully naïve as a schoolgirl skipping home. Staggeringly, she'd never worked with a producer before, the experience opening her up to infinite new atmospheric possibilities.
“It was different,” she says. “ I'd been holding on to a particular image of what I wanted to be as a folk musician, a country musician, a southern roots musician. But when I heard the producers' ideas I thought, 'think bigger'. I looked at the careers of Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Joan Baez and they’ve put out all kinds of
music over the course of their careers so far. If I wanna put out a punk rock record next week, that's me. It's all coming from me. Even if I have to continue juggling jobs, I am a career artist.”
We don't hear so much, these days, from the old-school working class girls, the ones who can't afford the freedom to pursue their most daring dreams. Valerie June, the eldest girl of five kids (who'd often pretend to be the Jackson Five), first learned to sing in church, both a black church and later, a white church, when her family moved to the country. People sang in church, “even when they couldn't sing” and she'd mimic them all, “from homeless people to wealthy people until my own voice just started coming out, a mixture of everyone”. She had her first jobs as a teen, helping her dad, both a promoter for local gospel singers and in the construction business (she'd hang posters in town and then head to the demolition sites). Soon she was constantly singing, writing songs, a freedom-seeking spirit who went travelling as a wandering songbird up and down the American west coast, then the east coast, a gypsy nightingale and holistic craftswoman who'd sing for tips in subway stations and sell her own handmade soap. By the time she moved back to Memphis in 2000, she had a plethora of songs written and finally taught herself guitar and banjo, as neighbourhood eyes were raised. “Black people aren't supposed to play the banjo,” she laughs, “it's seen as country and bluegrass but it's an African instrument. I love it.” Soon, she was testing out her tentative musical skills in Memphis bars and restaurants, “which was more teaching myself in front of people,” she notes. “Memphis is a good town for being born as an artist. If you make a mistake people are like, 'we heard the good part'. They nurture you. You can take your time.”
With a dream to make a studio album and no cash to fund it, “it's hard to think about making a record when you've gotta pay rent”, she went to work full-time, now tunneling her way to freedom like Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption through daily, determined graft. She took on numerous service jobs: housekeeper, dog-walker, babysitter, vegetarian meal cooker, house sitter and personal assistant to the wealthy. And that was just the morning. “In the
afternoon, I'd work in a herb shop, Maggie's Pharm. Then I would go play a gig, just me and my guitar.”
She began to musically emerge, playing the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival, the International Folk Alliance Conference, the Cooper-Young Festival, the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, AR, finally making enough money for three lo-fi recordings which she sold as CDs on tour: the raw, acoustic The Way Of The Weeping Willow (recorded in an 1800s farmhouse), the vocally mesmerising Mountain Of Rose Quartz and the haunting Valerie June And The Tennessee Express, a collaboration with Nashville bluegrass troupe The Old Crow Medicine Show (who've toured with Mumford & Sons). “They're very successful at what they do, they loved my music and said 'hey, don't worry about money just come and record a few songs with us'.”
In 2009 she was a featured artist on MTV's online series $5 Cover (following the lives of Memphis musicians attempting to make ends meet) and eventually raised $15,000 through crowd-funding website Kickstarter to record a debut album proper. Then, the universe intervened: through word-of-mouth, the manager for producer Kevin Augunas heard Valerie's music, sent it to Augunas, who loved it so much he flew into Memphis the following day. He asked who she'd like to write with and she suggested Dan Auerbach, whose solo work she'd loved (and who had recently moved to Nashville). Valerie, deliberately, had never signed to a record label before, although there had been no shortage of offers from both major and independent US-based labels, and was spotted playing in France by Sunday Best's label partner Sarah Bolshi. “I never signed a label deal because it didn't feel right,” she says. “I need to be with people who not only like this record but my stripped down stuff too. People will tell you, 'you can do whatever you wanna do with our label'. I didn't trust anybody telling me that until I met Sarah! And it's more me, a speciality label.”
Pushin' Against A Stone is so-called because that's the story of her life - and the story of her forebears, too. “I feel I've spent my life pushing against a stone,” she says. “And the jobs I've had have been fitting for getting a true feel for how
the traditional artists I loved came home after a hard day to sit on the porch and play tunes until bedtime. That’s one reason why they were older before anybody cared. When I first started playing instruments I thought, OK, I'm probably not gonna be the next Beyonce, this is not gonna happen for me until I'm very very old. Like...Seasick Steve! Who I love. And then maybe somebody will come see me play in my shack in Mississippi. That's kinda how it is for many artists who make roots music. So I'm just really happy it's happening now and I'm not up there with my cane.”
Good things come to those who wait and Valerie June's time is now, the last year bringing rave reviews at SXSW, a collaboration with Grammy-nominated Fugees producer John Forte (on the hip-hop-blues song Give Me Water) as the word-of-mouth whisper has gradually grown into a collective global holler. This September, one of her friends sent her a Facebook message saying she'd seen a video of her glorious Bestival Performance. “And she said, 'you're gonna be a huge star',” smiles the captivating Valerie June. “A while ago I would've been like, I dunno about being a huge star. But now I'm like, you know what? If I can get a break? I will take it. I deserve it. I have paid my dues! I can't work on Maggie's Pharm no more. If you wanna bring me a coffee, yeah, I'll let you bring it. Because I have been the person bringing the coffee. I don't need any more experience in that. Now, being a queen? M'Kay! I think I can use a little spoiling. Bring it on.”
Somebody To Love
Valerie June Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well, if you're tired
and feelin' so lonely
you wake up at night
thinking that only
if you had somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to love
Did they tell you, there are
plenty of fish in the sea
but you're drowning and cold
and you're feelin' empty
Looking for somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to love
I'll be somebody x3
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x2
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x3
If you need somebody
Somebody to love
Are you watching the moon risin'
in the darkest of night
Battered and broken
'Cause you know it ain't right
'Cause you ain't got nobody
You ain't got nobody
you ain't got nobody
And I'll be somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to Love
I'll be somebody
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x 3
if you need somebody
I'll be somebody x3
You can call on me
I'll be somebody x3
You can count on me
I'll be somebody x2
Somebody to love
and feelin' so lonely
you wake up at night
thinking that only
if you had somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to love
plenty of fish in the sea
but you're drowning and cold
and you're feelin' empty
Looking for somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to love
I'll be somebody x3
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x2
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x3
If you need somebody
Somebody to love
Are you watching the moon risin'
in the darkest of night
Battered and broken
'Cause you know it ain't right
'Cause you ain't got nobody
You ain't got nobody
you ain't got nobody
And I'll be somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to Love
I'll be somebody
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x 3
if you need somebody
I'll be somebody x3
You can call on me
I'll be somebody x3
You can count on me
I'll be somebody x2
Somebody to love
Valerie June's song "Somebody To Love" is a cry for love and companionship in times of loneliness and despair. The lyrics convey the message of someone who feels alone and is looking for a friend, a lover, or simply someone to care for them. The song portrays a sense of emptiness and desperation that many people can relate to, the feeling of being lost and not having someone to rely on in difficult times. The repetition of the line "I'll be somebody" highlights the need for human connection and affection, and serves as a reminder that we all need someone to love.
The lyrics also reference the common expression "plenty of fish in the sea", which suggests that there are many potential partners available. However, the singer seems to feel overwhelmed and hopeless, as if they are drowning and unable to find anyone who can provide the love and support they need. The song's melancholic tone is emphasized by the reference to the moon rising in the darkest of night, creating a sense of isolation and sadness.
Overall, "Somebody To Love" is a heartfelt plea for companionship and love, which can be interpreted as a reflection of the human need for connection and community.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, if you're tired
When you're exhausted
and feelin' so lonely
and feeling incredibly alone
you wake up at night
you spend your nights awake and restless
thinking that only
wishing that
if you had somebody
if you had someone to share your life with
I'll be somebody
I'll be that person for you
Somebody to love
someone to care for and cherish
Did they tell you, there are
Someone likely said to you that
plenty of fish in the sea
there are a lot of people out there
but you're drowning and cold
but you feel lost and empty
and you're feelin' empty
and you feel a lack of fulfillment
Looking for somebody
Searching for someone
I'll be somebody
I'll be the person you're looking for
I'll be somebody x3
I will be there for you
If you need somebody
If you need someone to be there for you
you ain't got nobody
you don't have anyone there for you
And I'll be somebody
And I will gladly be that someone for you
You can call on me
You can reach out to me
You can count on me
You can rely on me
Somebody to love
Someone to show affection towards and receive affection from
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Valerie Hockett
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Fraps
Well, if you're tired
and feelin' so lonely
you wake up at night
thinking that only
if you had somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to love
Did they tell you, there are
plenty of fish in the sea
but you're drowning and cold
and you're feelin' empty
Looking for somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to love
I'll be somebody x3
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x2
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x3
If you need somebody
Somebody to love
Are you watching the moon risin'
in the darkest of night
Battered and broken
'Cause you know it ain't right
'Cause you ain't got nobody
You ain't got nobody
you ain't got nobody
And I'll be somebody
I'll be somebody
Somebody to Love
I'll be somebody
If you need somebody
I'll be somebody x 3
if you need somebody
I'll be somebody x3
You can call on me
I'll be somebody x3
You can count on me
I'll be somebody x2
Somebody to love
Not just anybody
No
I'll be your somebody
Sophia Victoria
So hauntingly soulful, her voice is like a dream. 💭💕
Kelhi Macmillan
I absolutely love the voice of Valerie June! She's a new discovery for me & thanks to P-VALLEY, I now have a new friend to visit when I am feeling burnt out, blue & hopeless!.... Thank you Valerie!...💘💔💖💖👌🎧
Khanell786.
I first heard this beautiful music when me and my dad were in the car, he has alzheimer's and dementia, and before the song came on he was getting really annoyed at the long journey home, but then the song came on, and we sat there for 3 minutes in complete silence to appreciate her angelic voice.. So after that, I booked 2 tickets to go to Pakistan with my dad, we were there and it was pitch black one night, and raining. He looked to me and said 'can you put that song on, so I did, and we were listening to the song in the veranda, hearing the rain crashing down.. I'll never forget that moment for asking as I live.. Thank you Valerie for that moment
sera
I don't remember signing up for this Feel Trip 😓
kyle owens
I find her music very moving as well. That's a special moment. It's good to have moments like that to hold on too.
The Spirit of Light
aw...how sweet!
Devon Merriman
Well now my have a tear in eye :) Thanks for sharing
Lois Davies
Such a beautiful story, gave me goosebumps. What a magical moment, thank you for sharing it with us.
Joe Bruha
This is my new obsession -- Valerie June. I first heard this song tonight on an NPR show called "Wits," while driving home and immediately ran to the computer to learn more and hear it again. The live version she performed on the radio show is actually better than this cut from her album. This one sounds overly produced to me, but you'll get the gist of her incredible blues/country/hipster style if you listen to the recording. What a distinctive voice. It's not for everyone. You may even hate it. I was taken aback, at first. But I've got to say, it's lighting up my world. This gal's on fire.
Mark Boychuk
Fell in love when I saw her on Austin City Limits. She is amazing. Like her live stuff more and would love to see her in person. What a voice!