you're so vain

Carly Simon had everyone guessing about the clouds in her coffee and the self-important subject of her signature song.  
'You're So Vain' was produced by Richard Perry at Trident Studios in London for her album 'No Secrets'.  The sessions for the song included:  Carly Simon on piano, vocals, and string arrangements; Jimmy Ryan on acoustic and electric guitar; Klaus Voormann on bass; Jim Gordon on drums; Richard Perry on percussion; and Mick Jagger on backing vocals.  Paul Buckmaster did the orchestration.  

Simon has said that “It doesn’t really matter who it’s about.”  Nevertheless, the subject of the song has been a continuing source of speculation over the years.  Simon has said that the song is based upon a composite of three ex-boyfriends.  Former lovers such as Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, and Mick Jagger have all been considered.  Some have suggested that she tricked Jagger into singing the background vocals for a song actually written about him; but Simon explains how he came to be involved:   "I guess it was kind of chance in a way. I was in London, it was 1972 and he happened to call at the studio while I was doing the background vocals with Harry Nilsson. Mick said 'Hey, what cha doin'?' and I said 'We're doing some backup vocals on a song of mine....why don't you come down and sing with us?'  So Mick and Harry and I stood around the mike singing you're so vain and Harry was such a gentleman - he knew the chemistry was between me and Mick; in terms of the singing, so he sort of bowed out saying 'The two of you have a real blend - you should do it yourselves.' And that's how it happened." 

Simon said that she had already come up with much of the song when a person she knew came into a party in Los Angeles:  "I said to myself, 'This is exactly the person that 'You’re so vain, I bet you think this song is about you' is about!' I envisioned him looking in the mirror and the scarf twirling, and the imaginary gavotte, and all the women wanting to be his partner.”

Simon describes the origin of the evocative line about "clouds in my coffee":  "It came from an airplane flight that I took with Billy Mernit, who was my friend and piano player at the time. As I got my coffee, there were clouds outside the window of the airplane and you could see the reflection in the cup of coffee. Billy said to me, 'Look at the clouds in your coffee'."

'You're So Vain' went gavotting up to number three in the UK, and number one in Australia, Canada, and on both the US pop and adult contemporary charts.  Simon has given hints as to the subject of the song (specifically, that their name contains the letters A, E, and R) over the years, but continues to dodge the question:  "Well, you know people have always asked me this. I don't know why people are so interested in that. I suppose it was at a time in my life in which I was garnering a great deal of sort of tabloid press - in terms of who I was going out with. It's the kind of thing that if I actually tell, it'll lose the whole mystique. What's the point of telling? Why bother to tell?"







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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? 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








Simon re-recorded the song for her album 'Never Been Gone' with a whispered name which led to rumors that the song was about David Geffen:  "I said “Ovid” both front- and backward together on the CD, and it came out sounding like 'David’ to some, I guess. But I meant it as an allusion to metamorphosis, and that this group of songs was rechanneled into a different cockroach. Kafka? Coffee? Clouds? I know it’s boring, but that could be good!"