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Revision as of 07:50, 25 December 2005 by Nscheffey (talk | contribs) (rv user test)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)"You're So Vain" is a song written by and performed by Carly Simon in 1972.
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 on the subject include Mick Jagger (who sang backing vocals on the song), Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, unfaithful fiancé William Donaldson 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 may make the line "you're so vain, you probably 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, an "A" and an "E". But I'm going to add one to it. I'm going to add an "R", in honor of you." (If Simon was not being flip, then of the above guesses, Jagger, Beatty and Taylor would remain as potential candidates; Stevens, Kristofferson, and Donaldson are all missing one or more of the requisite letters.)
Several days after the identity of Watergate-era press source Deep Throat was revealed during the summer of 2005, a USA Today reporter asked Simon to name the subject of her song. Simon exclaimed with a laugh that it was "about Mark Felt!", who had claimed to be the legendary Watergate source.
The speculation continues.
Covers
The song has been covered by Chocolate Starfish, David Axelrod, Liza Minnelli, Chimira, Venice, Janet Jackson (who sampled the song in "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song is About You", with Simon providing featured vocals), Anna Waronker, Faster Pussycat, Romantic Guitar, Dres, and Smokie among others. The line "You're so vain; I bet you think this song is about you," was also used in the Nine Inch Nails song "Starfuckers, Inc." In 1990, composer John Oswald produced an early mashup, entitled "Vane", which digitally merged Simon's original with the cover version by Faster Pussycat.