"You're So Vain" is a song written by and performed by Carly Simon in 1973.

The song was a sarcastic profile of a self-absorbed lover. The song was a number one hit, and spawned what many fans consider to be the biggest mystery in the rock era. There has been much debate over who exactly the song was about. Popular guesses as the subject include Mick Jagger (who sang backing vocals on the song), Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, and Simon's ex-husband, James Taylor.

Despite these guesses and many interviews asking who it was, to this day Carly Simon has never publicly acknowledged who the song is about, although she once commented in an interview that it was about "many vain men I've known in my life". This would certainly make the line "you're so vain: I bet you think this song is about you" more logically coherent than if it were about any single man.

Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports and a friend of Simon's, was the highest bidder for a Martha's Vineyard Possible Dreams charity auction offering in which the prize was the revelation of the person whom "You're So Vain" was about. A condition of that prize is that Ebersol would not reveal to anyone the actual subject. Later, Ebersol revealed that he was allowed by Simon to divulge a clue about the person's name:

"Carly told me that I could offer up to the entire world, a clue as to what she'll tell me when we have this night in about two weeks. And the clue is: the letter 'E' is in the person's name." Dick Ebersol on NBC's Today Show - August 5 2003

By 2004 she had told Regis Philbin "If I tell it, it's going to come out in dribs and drabs. And I've given out two letters already, and "A" and an "E". But I'm going to add one to it. I'm going to add an "R", in honor of you."

The speculation continues.

Lyrics

You walked in to 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...

(chorus)

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...

(chorus)

The chorus was paraphrased in the Nine Inch Nails song "Starfuckers, Inc." as well as Janet Jackson's "Son Of A Gun"

Covers

The song has been covered by Chocolate Starfish , David Axelrod , Liza Minelli, Chimira, Venice, Anna Waronker , Faster Pussycats , Romantic Guitar , Dres , Smokie among others.

External link

• Official Carly Simon Webpage about 'You're So Vain'