You’re so vain. I bet you think this song is about you.

Before Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez & Gwen Stephani, Carly Simon wrote the original “my-ex-sucks song” that piqued everyone’s interest–“You’re so Vain”.

Carly had many friends so there was a lot of speculation about who this could be written about. Is this song about Mick Jagger, David Geffen, Warren Beatty?  Wisely, she never answered. As years went by it almost became a myth of sorts. “American Pie” has a similar mystical quality because the author never revealed the intended meaning.

The difference between this song and American Pie is that Carly paints an extremely vivid (and clear) picture of the subject of the song. He is a lucky, rich, good-looking, pompous, womanizing
ass…who is vain. (Not that she’s bitter).

And the thing is, she doesn’t come across bitter at all. Part of the reason is because of her great, concise description of him. She simply describes his actions. We can easily visualize a guy
who dresses loudly, who enters the room brashly as if to say “the party has now started”. She says it so well, in one of the best rhymes in pop music:

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.

Yacht, apricot, gavotte…that is great writing! These are the more playful descriptions about him and confirm that he is vain. The fact that he has sex with his friends’ wives are less playful,
and show us he’s not just vain, he is a bad guy.

The vocal is crisp and we hear a slight edge in her voice. That’s what we want from songs about exes. The unique bass rhythm in the intro that continues throughout elevates the song to another level. The song is heavily produced, but it works.

You’re So Vain Lyrics

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 naïve
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