"You're So Vain" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released as a single in November 1972. The lyrics describe a self-absorbed lover, whose identity has long been a matter of speculation. Simon said the song refers to three men, one of whom she has named publicly: the actor Warren Beatty.
Simon wrote "You're So Vain" over the course of a year. The song was originally titled "Bless You, Ben."[4] The bass guitar intro was played by Klaus Voormann.[5] The strings were arranged by Simon and orchestrated by Paul Buckmaster.
A year after Simon had written the chorus lyric, "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you," a scarfed man arriving at a party studied himself in a mirror; Simon's friend said, "he looks like he's walking onto a yacht," inspiring more lyrics, including, "You…watched yourself gavotte." That refers to a French dance, as it provided the necessary rhyme and "that's what a pretentious, vain man would do."[4] The line "clouds in my coffee" was inspired by a comment from her piano player, Billy Mernit, who observed that clouds were reflected in a cup of coffee she was drinking.[4]
The lyrics, "…you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally won. Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun," may refer to a 1970 eclipse visible along the east coast of North America,[7][8] including New York City, where Simon lived at the time;[9] or it may refer to a 1972 eclipse only visible in northern and eastern Canada a few months before she recorded the song.[10] Simon told the CBC that she took artistic license with the reference, and the subject may not have actually witnessed the eclipse in Nova Scotia.[11] The 2012 biography More Room in a Broken Heart: The True Adventures of Carly Simon quotes her: "I didn't know anyone who raced at Saratoga or went to view the total eclipse, I just wanted to portray someone who thought he was ultra-cool."[12]
Subject
Simon confirmed that the actor Warren Beatty (pictured in 1961) was one inspiration for the lyrics.
In 1972, Simon told an interviewer that the song was about "men", not a specific man.[13] In 1983, she said it was not about Mick Jagger,[14] who contributed uncredited backing vocals to the song.[15] In a 1993 book, Angie Bowie said she was the wife of a "close friend" mentioned in "You're So Vain", and that Jagger had been "obsessed" with her.[16]
In August 2003, Simon agreed to reveal the subject to the highest bidder of the Martha's Vineyard Possible Dreams charity auction. The highest bid was $50,000 from Simon's friend Dick Ebersol, the president of NBC Sports. A condition of the prize was that Ebersol not reveal the name.[22] Ebersol said Simon allowed him to divulge a clue, and said the person's name contained the letter E.[23] In 2004, Simon said the name also contained the letters A and R.[24] In 2005, Simon's ex-husband, Jim Hart, said he was sure the song was not about anyone famous.[25]
In her 2008 book Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller includes a detailed account of Simon's love affair with the musician Dan Armstrong, and suggests that he was the inspiration. Her heartbreak over losing him inspired the song "Dan, My Fling", which appears on her first album.[26] The radio host Howard Stern said Simon had privately revealed the identity to him after her 2014 interview on his radio show; Stern said, "There is an odd aspect to it... He's not that vain." He also said she said it was a "composite of three people".[27] Simon confirmed that she had given the names to a few people, including Stern.[28]
In an interview for WNYC in November 2009, Simon said she had hidden the name of the subject in a new recording of the song. The next day, WNYC crew detected the name "David" concealed in a back-played whisper.[29] However, Simon said she had spoken "Ovid" both forwards and backwards, and that this sounded like David.[30] In February 2010, Simon reiterated that the name was whispered in a rerecording of "You're So Vain": "There's a little whisper—and it's the answer to the puzzle."[31] A representative for Simon said the name was "David".[31]
Media outlets speculated that the subject was the Elektra Records executive David Geffen.[32] Hart immediately downplayed this.[13] Simon later said she had not met Geffen when she wrote the song in 1971.[33] Simon's publicist confirmed the song was not about Geffen, but that there was "a David who is connected to the song in some way, shape, or form".[13]Vanity Fair noted that in addition to "David", "Warren" and an unintelligible name are whispered in the song.[34] After her performance of the song with Simon in July 2013, the songwriter Taylor Swift said that Simon had revealed the identity of the subject to her in confidence.[35]
In 1983, Simon said the actor Warren Beatty "certainly thought it was about him—he called me and said thanks for the song".[14] In 2007, Beatty said, "Let's be honest. That song was about me."[36] In November 2015, Simon, promoting her memoirs, said, "I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren ... Warren thinks the whole thing is about him ... Now, that doesn't mean that the other two verses aren't also about Warren. It just means that the second one is."[37] The song originally had a fourth verse, possibly including another subject.[38]
The song was a No. 1 hit in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and reached No 4 in Ireland and South Africa.[43] Entering at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 December 1972, the song took five more weeks to rise to the top of the chart, where it stayed for the first three weeks of 1973. It was replaced by Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and spent the next month in the runner-up spot. It also spent two weeks at the top of the Easy Listening chart in early 1973, her first No. 1 on either chart. "You're So Vain" was Simon's breakthrough hit in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 3 on the UK chart on its original release in 1973. The song was re-released in the UK in 1991 to cash in on its inclusion in a commercial for Dunlop Tyres, peaking at No. 41.
Personnel
From the No Secrets album liner notes:
Carly Simon – lead vocals, acoustic piano, string arrangement
The Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger contributed uncredited backing vocals. Simon said she invited him to join the recording as he happened to be in the studio.[44]
^Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 19, 2024. The meta-pop song that keeps on giving, with a central mystery so all-consuming that it can take time to notice the subtler brilliances of its writing, production and performance.
^Carter, Jamie (March 7, 2024). "54 Years Ago Today A Total Eclipse Of The Sun Inspired 'You're So Vain'". Forbes. Retrieved November 30, 2024. The song's iconic lyric, 'you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun' was motivated by events around a landmark eclipse that occurred exactly 54 years ago today, on March 7, 1970.
^"Tales From the Trees: An Interview With Carly Simon, PopMatters". PopMatters. November 21, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2024. Simon would cap the '60s by moving into her own apartment on E. 35th Street in the city's Murray Hill neighborhood.... It was also the place where she and James Taylor exchanged wedding vows in November 1972.
^Sheila Weller. Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon & the Journey of a Generation, Simon & Schuster. 2008: ISBN978-0-7434-9147-1
^Stern, Howard (host) (May 20, 2014). Howard Stern Show. Sirius XM Radio.
^Kreps, Daniel (March 1, 2010). "Carly Simon Refutes Theory That 'So Vain' Target Is David Geffen". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2021. Simon adds that she never even knew Geffen in 1971 when the song was written, which if Simon has her timeline correct, means "You're So Vain" was penned prior to when Simon's label Elektra Records merged with Geffen's Asylum Records in 1972, the date Geffen assumed control of the combined companies.
