In
January of 1973, You're So Vain was the # 1 hit song
on the radio. Carly had just married fellow pop-superstar James
Taylor a month before, so when You're So Vain hit the
airwaves, it stirred intense curiosity about which one of her
previous lovers was the subject of this wry nod to the male
ego.
Was
it Mick Jagger? Cat Stevens? Warren Beatty? Kris Kristofferson?
It was common knowledge that she had been involved with each
of them in the past.
Carly has never revealed who she had in mind when she wrote
You're So Vain, and all these years later, interviewers
are still asking her this same question.
What
does Clouds In My Coffee mean?
Carly
Simon was traveling with a friend on an airplane, when he
pointed to her cup and said "Look, there are clouds in
your coffee" (a reflection of the sky outside her window).
She liked the phrase and wrote in her notebook. Later, when
she was writing the song You're So Vain, she used that reference
to an "illusion" to describe her dreams of having
a relationship with the subject of the song.
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....
Carly
Simon Answers - Who Is You're So Vain about?
Rolling
Stone - 1973
RS:
Some people think "You're So Vain" is about James.
Carly: No, it's definitely not about James, although
James suspected that it might be about him because he's very
vain. No, he isn't, but he had the unfortunate experience
of taking a jet up to Nova Scotia after I’d written the song.
He was saved by the fact that it wasn’t a Lear.
RS: You mentioned the "contest" going on about who
it's about. What would be the clearest statement you would
want to make on who the song was about?
Carly:
The contest is run by this man in Los Angeles named Winkler,
and he had his listeners call in to cast their ballot as to
who they thought the song was about. Kris Kristofferson is
leading.
A lot of people think it's about Mick Jagger and that I have
fooled him into actually singing on it, that I pulled that
ruse. And some of the people think it's about James. But I
can't possibly tell who it's about because it wouldn't be
fair.
The
Washington Post - 1983
WP:
Who was ‘You’re So Vain about? Mick Jagger?
Carly: No.
WP:
Warren Beatty?
Carly:
It certainly sounds like it was about Warren Beatty. He certainly
thought it was about him - he called me and said thanks for
the song….
WP:
You had gone with him?
Carly:
Hasn’t everybody?
WP:
No.
Carly:
That only means you haven’t met him, though at the time
I met him he was still relatively undiscovered as a Don Juan.
I felt I was one among thousands at that point – it hadn’t
reached, you know, the populations of small countries….
FAME
- 1989
For
the record, Simon acknowledges the song is a little about
Beatty; it's a composite of three men from her L.A. days.
Warren, it seems, was not a particularly good boyfriend.
"And I never took him seriously," she says. "He was great
fun and very, very, bright. But noooo ... as a boyfriend.
A
lot of women like somebody who's that smooth. In the beginning
Warren was pretty good at pretending he was only smooth on
the outside and a bowl of jelly on the inside. But he doesn't
do that secondary act very well now." Carly Simon
VH1
- One to One - 1990
"People
have been questioning for a long time, who it's about - I
mean, who I wrote the song about.
It
always strikes me as funny. That people would be THAT into
what I was thinking about, that's the greatest ego trip anybody
could have....that they would be THAT interested in what you
were thinking about when you wrote a song.
And for that very reason, of course, I can never give it away."
Carly Simon
Phil
Donahue - 1990
An
audience member asks Carly: Was
You're So Vain about Warren Beatty? And did Mick Jagger sing
vocals on that?
Carly:
I've never, ever told who You're So Vain is about. But I will
tell you since you're so very pretty in that pink sweater....it's
about the young Oprah Winfrey.
Primetime
Live - 1990
Diane
Sawyer: You're So Vain is about...we've
heard Mick Jagger and Warren Beatty.
Carly:
Who cares, I can't believe people care, you know? It was a
riddle a long time ago and it's best, as all those riddles
are, it's best unsolved.
NBC
Interview - 1994
Bob
Costas : Carl Bernstein told me
once that he had sealed the identity of Deep Throat in some
sort of envelope and I guess he stuck it beneath a tree someplace
deep in the forest with instructions on how to find it - to
be opened 50 years after his death. And only then the identity
of Deep Throat could be revealed.
Carly:
I have right here. (reaching into her pocket)
Bob
Costas : Have you done the same thing with the identity
of the person you're mocking in You're So Vain?
Carly:
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?
Bob
Costas : Is it a person or a composite of people?
Carly:
It was a dog actually. Yes, it was a person!
Bob
Costas : No, I mean a single person. I wasn't suggesting
it was outside of humankind. (laughing). Was it a single person
or a composite of objectionable traits in a variety of people?
Carly:
Hardly objectionable! I think it's a very attractive man.
I think it's a very complicated man who is obviously concerned
with his image, but obviously worthy of my love or my interest.
I don't LOVE just anyone. You know, he's gotta have a certain
amount of character. If he was only vain it would be boring,
but there's a lot more to him. He hobknobs with the underworld.
This
Morning - 1995
Mark
McEwen: How did you get Mick Jagger
to sing on You're So Vain?
Carly:
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.
MM:
So, who is You're So Vain about?
Carly:
I don't know.
MM:
We've heard it was Warren Beatty. It was Mick Jagger. But
you've never really said who it was.
Carly:
Yeah.
Charlie
Rose - May 2000
CR:
Tell us about You're So Vain
Carly:
Well, there was originally a song that had the melody of what
is now You're So Vain, called Bless You Ben. It went "Bless
you Ben, you came in, where nobody else left off.....There
I was, by myself, hiding up in my loft"....
It
never went anywhere, I could never fall in love with it. And
then I was at a party and somebody walked in and my friend
said to me "Doesn't he look like he's just walked on
to a yacht?". So, I thought to myself - hmmm, let me
write that in my notebook.
And
then one day, when I was playing Bless You Ben on the piano,
I substituted "You walked into the party, like you were
walking onto a yacht" and the exchange was equal. And
it felt natural and it felt good and then I could get into
that man, I knew who I was talking about.
CR:
Warren Beatty?
Carly:
Well.....not at all.
CR:
Not at all?
Carly:
Well, maybe a little bit.
CR:
Was it one man? Was it Warren or was it a composite for you?
Carly:
Most songs are a composite....most songs are.
CR:
Was this one?
Carly:
I don't know.
Pure
Oxygen - 2000
PO:
Warren Beatty or Mick Jagger?
Carly:
Neither
PO:
You're kidding me?
Carly:
I may be kidding you.
PO:
You won't tell?
Carly:
No, I won't tell.....well, it's certainly not, not about Warren.
E!
"You're
So Vain was just a series of lines in a notebook for a long
time. There was You're so vain you probably think this
song is about you and You walked into a party like
you were walking onto a yacht. And then one day I figured
out 'Hey, these two could be about the same person.'"
Carly Simon
Sunday
Morning - 2001
Rita
Braver: Everyone thinks You're So
Vain is about Mick Jagger.
Carly:
Oh, they don't really think that.
RB:
Yes - they do.
Carly:
Okay.
RB:
Is it?
Carly:
Oh, no, no, no.
RB:
And then I read it might be about Warren Beatty?
Carly:
Oh, you know, don't listen to what other people tell you.
RB:
Well, do you want to solve that mystery for me?
Carly:
You know, I could never really solve it because if I did,
then no one would have anything to talk to me about.
on
Janet Jackson's song Son Of A Gun - 2001
"The
apricot scarf was worn by Nick....there's nothing in the words
that refer to Mick" Carly sings
Possible
Dreams Auction - 2003
Carly's participation in this year's charity auction created
an intense media buzz when she offered to reveal the identity
of the person(s) she had in mind when she penned the song
"You're So Vain" to the highest bidder, but only
after they agreed to abide by a confidentiality agreement.
Shortly after this news was printed in People magazine,
the Associated Press picked up the story and newspapers,
television and radio shows around the world immediately followed.
The news scrollers on all the major cable networks began carrying
Carly's name across the bottom of the television screen. MSNBC.com
conducted a viewer's poll where Beatty's name earned 54% of
the vote. Matt Lauer reviewed the list of usual suspects with
Anthony DeCurtis (of Rolling Stone magazine) on The
Today Show. Roger Friedman of Fox News went on
record with his firm opinion that song was about Warren Beatty.
The BBC's Up All Night radio show interviewed Carly
fans live from the US to get their opinion on who the song
was written about and why this mystery has such long lasting
appeal.
On
August 4th, the gavel cracked at $50,000 for Carly's "Dream
Secret". The winner (Dick Ebersol - an NBC executive)
and nine of his friends will join Carly at her home in a few
weeks, at which time she will sing You're So Vain while
her guests enjoy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and vodka
on the rocks. At midnight, Mr. Ebersol alone will learn Carly's
closely guarded secret.
"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 - Aug. 5th, 2003
CNN
- People In The News - 2004
Paula
Zahn : Long ago, you once admitted
that it could potentially be a composite of a number of men
that were dear to you in your life. Whether that be Mick Jagger,
Warren Beatty or maybe even a little bit of James Taylor in
there?
Carly:
Well, I guess for those who are interested in clues - the
name of the person it was about had an "E" in it.
PZ:
Oh, well thank you...that's very helpful Carly. That
could be Mick, Warren or James. We still have the same three
in the pot.
Carly:
Maybe I could disclose another letter. OK, it also has an
"A".
PZ:
(Laughter) Ok, we'll be asking you about this for the next
thirty years.
Carly:
Well listen, two vowels ain't bad!
Regis
& Kelly - 2004
Regis
: Isnt' it time for you to tell
the world - who's the guy you're singing about? Is it Warren
Beatty? Is it Mick Jagger? Or is it me? Tell us!
Carly:
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.
USA
Today - June, 2005
"It's
about Mark Felt!" Simon, 59, joked by phone Wednesday from
her home in Martha's Vineyard, referring to the former FBI
official who has said he was Deep Throat. You're So Vain was
a No. 1 hit in January 1973, six months after the Watergate
break-in that led to President Nixon's downfall.
But
unlike the Watergate principals, Simon says she'll never reveal
the answer, not even when she or the song's subject dies.
"I don't see why I ever would. What would it advance? I wrote
that song in the days when people kept confidences to themselves,
whereas now, people expose them so easily and readily for
the benefit of their next movie sale."
She
finds it "bizarre" that fans are still speculating about her
lyrics three decades later. "If people knew who it was to
begin with, it might not have become a hit."
Ellen
Degeneres Show - May, 2008
Ellen
tries to get Carly to admit who You're So Vain is about.
Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs - July, 2008
You're
So Vain is listed at number 72, on Billboard's definitive
list of the Hot 100's top 100 songs from the chart's first
50 years, August 1958 through July 2008.
One
of the biggest enigmas in popular music, this track also carries
one of the most famous refrains: "You're so vain/I bet you
think this song is about you." Simon has never publicly admitted
who the song is about. Regardless, it was a huge hit, spending
three weeks at No. 1 in January 1973.
Wild
Rumors Circulate The Globe - March 2010
While
supporting her new cd "Never Been Gone" in the UK,
one tabloid stated their belief that You're So Vain was about
David Geffen - in a headline that made it appear that Carly
had announced this to them as fact. In reality, it was just
their guess.
There is a word being said on the new version of You're So
Vain, which they assumed was "David" and then jumped
to the conclusion that it was David Geffen. In fact, Carly
had never even met David Geffen before she wrote You're So
Vain.
Regardless,
the press and social media sites spread this original rumor
& mistake as fact - all over the globe - in a matter of
hours. Sheila Weller (writing for Vanity Fair) contacted Carly
in London and got her response:
I
said “Ovid” [emphasis ours] 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!
She
also has made many other rebuttals to this rumor, including
to this one to the Daily Mail:
Simon
says: What a riot! Nothing to do with David Geffen.
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.....
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 of 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 Video Contest Winner - 2010
Brett
Bisogno created this winning video for Carly Simon's 'You're
So Vain' video
contest -
which asked fans and filmmakers to create the first and only
concept video to accompany her iconic hit. He won a Grand
Prize of $10,000 and had this winning video premiered at the
Tribeca Film Festival.
This
site was composed entirely while listening to Carly Simon's music.