You’re So Vain, Carly Simon
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No one really knows who the song “You’re So Vain” was about. A couple of days ago I wrote about the Stones Song, “Memory Motel,” this song was written in 1972 when the Stones were staying at the Warhol Estate in Montauk. The rumor also goes that Mick had a one-night stand with Carly at the Memory and that this song is about him. Alas, that rumor was dissipated recently in an interview to Uncut, it seems like the song had been written already before they met: “It had been written before I met Mick.” Mick Jagger however did sing back-up vocals in the record. She intended to have Harry Nilsson sing, but it ended up being Jaggar. Carly said about this in the same interview: “I owe more to Mick Jagger than anybody in the business — the fact that he sang on that record, brought it over the top. Richard had me do the whole lead vocal again, that he’d tortured me into singing 100 times because he thought Mick had lifted it to a new level. At the time it annoyed me, I was so heartily sick of the song. But that backing vocal was so right on.”
Other possible contenders for being the subject of the song were Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, and Cat Stevens, all of whom she had affairs with. In 2015 Carly said the second verse (“You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive…”) was about Warren Beatty and said that the other verses are about two different men. And then she added,“Warren thinks the whole thing is about him.” Lol. There is a part of the song where she says: “Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun.” When she wrote this, there was a predicted total eclipse of the sun, but she wrote it in the past tense. My favorite part of this song is when she rhimes apricot with gavotte. That does it for me.
I love songs that attempt a checkmate like this one (another that comes to mind is Willie Nelson’s “Permanently Lonely), basically, it’s a loaded question, if this song is not about you, then you are not important, if it is about you then you are vain, whatever you choose you will lose and Carly wins. And not I am not thinking this song applies to you, I am not thinking about you while I write this, or am I? You’re so vain.
Son of a gun
You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror, as you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they’d be your partner
They’d be your partner and
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (you’re so vain)
I bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you don’t you?
You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair and that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved
And one of them was me
I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee clouds in my coffee and
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (you’re so vain)
I bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you don’t you don’t you?
I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee clouds in my coffee and
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (you’re so vain)
I bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you don’t you?
Well I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse naturally won
Then you flew your lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
Well you’re where you should be all the time
And when you’re not, you’re with some underworld spy
Or the wife of a close friend wife of a close friend and
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (so vain)
I bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you don’t you don’t you?
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain
Probably think this song about you
You’re so vain
