‘You're So Vain’ is a song written and performed by American singer and songwriter Carly Simon and released in November 1972. It is one of the songs with which Simon is most identified, and in early 1973 reached No. 1 in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1994, it was ranked 72nd in Billboard magazine's 50th anniversary all-time chart. ‘You're So Vain’ was voted No. 216 in RIAA's Songs of the Century, and in August 2014, the UK's Official Charts Company crowned it the ultimate song of the 1970s. In 2021, the song was ranked 495th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song was nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 16th Annual Grammy Awards.
The song is a critical profile of a self-absorbed lover about whom Simon asserts, "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." The title subject's identity has long been a matter of speculation, with Simon stating that the song refers to three men, only one of whom she has named publicly: Warren Beatty. Before the song became a hit single in 1972, Simon told an interviewer that the song was about "men", not a specific "man".
In 1983, she said the song was not about Mick Jagger, who contributed uncredited backing vocals to it. In a 1993 book, Angie Bowie claimed to be the "wife of a close friend" mentioned in ‘You're So Vain’, and that Jagger, for a time, had been "obsessed" with her. Simon made another comment about the subject's identity as a guest artist on Janet Jackson's 2001 single, "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)", which sampled ‘You're So Vain’. Simon said about the song, "The apricot scarf was worn by Nick [Delbanco]. Nothing in the words referred to Mick [Jagger]."
Shortly before the writing of the song, Simon was married to James Taylor; she has said that he was "definitely not" the subject of the song. David Bowie, David Cassidy and Cat Stevens have all been cited by the press as speculative candidates.
In a 2007 interview, Warren Beatty said, "Let's be honest. That song was about me." Simon had said in 1983 that Beatty "certainly thought it was about him—he called me and said thanks for the song..." In an interview for the 1978/1982 version of The History of Rock and Roll radio series, producer Richard Perry said that Simon was essentially referring to Beatty while also evoking other previous relationships in her life. Howard Stern stated that Simon had privately revealed to him about whom the song was written after her 2014 interview on his popular radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Stern commented, "There is an odd aspect to it... he's not that vain." He also stated that she had said it was a "composite of three people." Simon confirmed that she has given the names to a few people, including Stern.
The song was a No. 1 hit in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and reached No. 4 in Ireland and South Africa. 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.
Label – Elektra
Songwriter – Carly Simon
Producer – Richard Perry
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Son of a gun
[Verse 1]
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
[Pre-Chorus]
And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner and
[Chorus]
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain (you're so vain)
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
[Verse 2]
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
[Pre-Chorus]
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee and
[Chorus]
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain (you're so vain)
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?
[Instrumental Break 02:01-02:27]
[Guitar Solo]
[Pre-Chorus]
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee and
[Chorus]
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain (you're so vain)
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
[Verse 3]
Well, I hear 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
Well, you're where you should be all the time
And when you're not
[Pre-Chorus]
You're with some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend
Wife of a close friend and
[Chorus]
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 now?
[Outro]
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