“You’re so Vain” Confusion

Submitted by TexitorFlexit t3_126di03 in Music

I’m sure this has been addressed a long time ago but I don’t understand this Carly Simon song. The entire song is about this guy, yet it repetitively states, “you probably think this song is about you.”

Am I missing something?

1

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Bugslugs47 t1_je8v7u2 wrote

The clue is in the title. Vain = Vanity = Egotistical = Me! Me! = Conceited = Puffed Up = Self Love.

Superb song with carefully crafted lyrics.

4

Pastel_Lich t1_je8vp5z wrote

Why would she write a song about me, I wasn't even born back then?

15

deenali t1_je8wyhi wrote

Don't bother. These days nobody understands the word vain anymore.

5

ljhatgisdotnet t1_je8xc8t wrote

She said it was about three guys, one of which is Warren Beatty.

9

SasquatchTamales t1_je8ypa9 wrote

I really don't like this song. Its clear to me she thinks she's hot shit and and thinks whoever she used to date are sitting there listening to her lyrics for jabs at themselves when in reality she is the one who is vain for thinking someone would care enough to do that. Some would argue she's being self aware but if she were that self aware do you really think she would be self deprecating enough to write a song about her own acknowledged vanity, knowing that the majority of people would take it at face value? Either way it's a shitty premise for a song in my opinion.

−15

hawkwings t1_je8zdmo wrote

It's a joke. It is like one of those logic puzzles that says something like "This sentence is false." If the sentence is true, then it's false and if it's false, then it's true.

24

uncletipsy78 t1_je8zdqq wrote

It’s supposed to be about Warren Beatty , as far as I knew. But who knows . That dudes prick was on steroids god love him

−2

M-atthew147s t1_je8zg79 wrote

Replying to SasquatchTamales (#2,477,133)

Jesus Christ mate it's jokey light hearted line in a song about her exes.

I don't think I have, and doubt other people do, thought that it can be inferred that she thinks she's hot shit? And what's the thing about acknowledged vanity???

3

Icy1551 t1_je902hf wrote

From what I understand, very few or nobody actually knows who the song is about other than Carly. The idea is that if that person hears her song, even though it never directly mentions them by name, will still think the song is about them, because of how vain they are.

Edit: phrasing.

14

JackKovack t1_je9055c wrote

I think she’s pretty vain for writing a song about someone being vain.

−1

SasquatchTamales t1_je911me wrote

Replying to M-atthew147s (#2,477,256)

Saying she was hot shit was a bit of embellishment on my part.There’s two takes to the song’s lyrics from my perspective; either she is writing a song about her exes in which she is calling them out publicly, in which case it’s not a joke to those people she’s writing about, or she’s using irony as others in the thread have said in which she’s referencing her own vanity as a music star in thinking that they would be listening in on her music for any reference to themselves. In either case I think it’s pretty cringe.

−1

the_racecar t1_je97jwz wrote

Yes that’s literally the point of the song. She is pointing out this little paradox. The person is so vain, that when they hear a song, they think it is about them. Is it? Is it not? It’s both and neither. That’s the point. It’s just a clever little line

19

Reasonable_Feeling65 t1_je989ms wrote

Yes, add the title of the song. As in: You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you. So, if someone thinks that the song is about them, then not only are they vain, but they're not who the song is about.

It's a mystery who the song is actually about. This has been going on since the late 1970s, and we've officially stopped caring because I don't think Carly Simon ever said who the song was about. I thought there were rumors once about her song being about Warren Beatty, but I might be wrong.

1

carlovski99 t1_je9b1v8 wrote

She also rhymes 'Yacht' with 'Apricot' in that song. So who knows what's going on.

1

qxzqxzqxz t1_je9b34r wrote

I always got the sense that she was meaning the song was about herself and how she couldn’t move on. But, at the same time, he was so full of himself that he couldn’t help but think it was about him.

To me, it’s a great example of a song about how messy we all make our lives. Fantastic stuff.

1

DavidGan1x t1_je9b77i wrote

Replying to Fluffy_Little_Fox (#2,478,108)

Not exactly, he copied the lyric for this bit:

All our pain How did you think we'd get by without you? You're so vain I bet you think this song is about you Dont you? Dont you? Dont you? Dont you? Dont you? Dont you? Dont you? Dont you? Dont you? Dont you?

4

GSV_No_Fixed_Abode t1_je9czkt wrote

Well who flew the jet to Nova Scotia?

Nova Scotians love gossip, if any 70s celebrity flew here to see the eclipse of the sun or whatever, the locals would know.

3

Micahman311 t1_je9gz1s wrote

Replying to prisonforkids (#2,478,645)

See: Labyrinth

"One of us always tells the truth, and one of us always lies. He lies."

Edit: Or this other one I heard from Davey Havok on Loveline many years ago...

"If I asked you to sleep with me, would your answer be the same as the answer to this question?"

3

Micahman311 t1_je9jhdo wrote

Replying to Mumsbud (#2,481,131)

It's all good. I knew better on the first part too, but got it wrong nonetheless.

Any ideas on what she might mean? I've never given it much thought, but always noticed it as a neat lyric.

1

BeardedDragon1917 t1_je9jp2q wrote

Well, it would be pretty conceited to hear an anonymous song and assume it's about you, even if it IS about you!

1

RyeZuul t1_je9kugs wrote

She's talking about Starfuckers incorporated.

1

jsv1890 t1_je9l66s wrote

It was rumored to be about either

  1. Mick Jagger

  2. Warren Beatty

  3. Chris Kristofferson

1

Delini t1_je9mvoh wrote

Replying to hawkwings (#2,477,244)

I mean… it’s more like a “this sentence is true” logic puzzle.

She’s describing someone pretty specific, the person it’s about absolutely knows it’s about them, and they’re not wrong.

1

AnikiRabbit t1_je9n75g wrote

I always assumed that the song was actually about her and her struggles with that person. Saying that he's so vain that even when she's trying to talk about herself having problems, he still thinks it's about him.

1

Mrselfdestructuk t1_je9p6nh wrote

And when NIN sing it in Starfuckers inc. it's about Courtney Love

2

bumwine t1_je9vjv5 wrote

Replying to ga1205 (#2,480,206)

You went to the wrong elementary school. It would be hilarious if it ironically had no irony. Except…it has a clear case of cosmic irony.

We have like what, six types of irony you could argue for one or two more.

1

TexitorFlexit OP t1_je9vqur wrote

Replying to Reasonable_Feeling65 (#2,478,728)

Perhaps there’s a misinterpretation of the subject. When the subject is in the title and remains as the predominate focus throughout the song, it can only be about the subject. Until the lyrics are radically compromised, the song is about that guy.

0

compuwiza1 t1_je9xc9r wrote

I think she talks about several men she has dated, but the song is not about them, My take is that it is about her, about the way they made her feel.

2

AnikiRabbit t1_je9xksq wrote

Replying to TexitorFlexit (#2,484,565)

That's a pretty vain way to look at it no? Lol.

The only way it makes sense is if the song isn't about him.

"But you gave away the things you loved And one of them was me"

It's filled with references to his behavior hurting her. The writing and performance of the song may have been therapeutic, and that could be the reason it exists.

She wrote it for herself. To help her feel better about falling for a vain person. But that's just IMO.

1

Ok-Leg64 t1_jea1nng wrote

But it definitely is about whoever so yeah

1

atomicsnarl t1_jea60oc wrote

Replying to Micahman311 (#2,480,618)

Wizard: "There are two guards. One tells the truth, one tells lies. We must learn which is which to get through the magic door!"

Ork kills one one of the guards, then demands of the other, "Is that man dead?"

Guard, trembling for his life, "Errr, no?"

Ork: "This guard the liar."

Rogue applauds.

3

KenEsq t1_jeaaa1d wrote

She told two people that I know of Howard Stern (she told him off air) and Dick Ebersol (longtime ABC producer) who won a charity auction. Both swore to keep it a secret.

Rumors:
Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, David Geffen, James Taylor

1

maxmouze t1_jeazwmq wrote

Replying to Mrselfdestructuk (#2,493,944)

I didn't. I know she's used "pretty hate machine" in "Caught a Lite Sneeze" and also "nine inch nails" in "Precious Things." I knew "Professional Widow" was about Courtney Love but didn't know NIN had also written a song called "Starfuckers" which solidifies why she used that lyric.

1

ztmwvo t1_jec6boh wrote

Seems most commenters do not know the definition of “vain” or “irony.” From Webster’s dictionary:

“having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements : CONCEIT”

A conceited person is likely to think that everything, including that song, is all about them.

1