Simon names who's 'So Vain'

From the World Entertainment News Network courtesy of MSN:

Carly Simon has ended nearly 40 years of speculation by finally naming the man who inspired her hit "You're So Vain" - her target was gay record label boss David Geffen.

The song, which catapulted the singer to fame in 1972, was rumored to be about one of her ex-boyfriends, who include Hollywood legend Warren Beatty and rocker Sir Mick Jagger, but she had persistently refused to name the man behind the track.

More here.

Oh! I do so love a character assassination song. And this, along with Dylan's "Positively 4th Street," and John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?," is among the very best the genre has to offer. Indeed, character assassination in song is something I've loved since I first understood the concept. As a songwriter, I started using the form pretty early on, with my first few in this vein being written when I was in my late teens. And I was good at it, too: I still perform a couple from those days when I play at the Neutral Ground here in New Orleans, "Dawna" and "Love God." But I've never been quite able to match Carly Simon's venom in my own work. I mean, "I bet you think this song is about you;" I could never write that.

"You're So Vain" is fucking great. I've always loved it. At first, for a few years, I had no idea about the famous mystery regarding the song's target; I just figured it was some ex-boyfriend or something. I mean, in the end, who really cares? But by the time I was a teenager, my song writing partner, Ken, had told me about all the speculation, and I was hooked. James Taylor? Warren Beatty? After a couple of years I decided that I liked it being about Beatty, who is, you know, something of an idiot--at this point in my life I really hate to watch his on screen mugging, the whole "I'm beautiful and I know it" thing you see in virtually all his movies. I mean, how could it not be Beatty?

But here you have it. David Geffen. I guess that's okay, too. He is, after all, to borrow a phrase from Frank Zappa, one of "those record company pricks who come to scrape the cream." Nothing like trashing the powerful. But now there are some new questions. Did Simon know at that point that Geffen is gay? What's with the "wife of a close friend" line? And why is Wikipedia reporting denials that the song is about Geffen? Whatever. Like I said, in the end, it doesn't matter. What's important is the song, and how when we listen to it we fill in all our favorite pompous assholes who've tormented us our entire lives. It's nice to think about Beatty or Geffen being ripped to shreds, but really, the song speaks to each of us individually, about our own lives, about the people we know. And that's what makes it great.

Anyway, here's the song on YouTube, playing over a hot gay beefcake pic, which now appears to be entirely appropriate. Lyrics below, so you can sing along. Personally, I like to sing along with Mick Jagger's backing vocal--he's made his career, after all, being just as vindictive with his own lyrics; he's the perfect celebrity addition here.



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
I'll 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
I'll bet you think this song is about 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
I'll 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
I'll 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
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you

You're so vain (so vain)
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?

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