Discussion»Questions»Music» What's the deal with "You're so vain?" Carly sings, "You probably think this song is about you." It is about him, isn't it?
Ya but is it James Taylor or Mick Jagger? Who is more vain? Who thinks it is about him? Who has the bigger ... ego? They might get in an overly absurb spat because one thinks it is about him and the other the same. It is a battle song of vainity.
Hi Savvy~ :) I am a Huge James Taylor fan, too! I think I know all of his songs word-for-word and used to play his records until they were warped. It's true! I love Carly, too. "The Best of Carly Simon" was the second album I ever owned. "Neil Diamond His 12 Greatest Hits" was my first. Good Ol' James came into my life when I started to learn about boys and love. To this day, I still have those albums and play them from time to time. It reminds me of "the time" when music told stories, you could understand the words, and they were meaningful. Ohhh, the good ol' days. :) :)
This post was edited by Merlin at August 12, 2019 10:33 PM MDT
No. It's about the pain he causes others because he's self-centered.
"You had one eye on the mirror And watched yourself gavotte And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner..."
He never paid any attention to the women who were interested in him. He was too busy watching himself.
"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..."
She's in anguish over the ending of the relationship. She believed he'd stick around and he bailed.
While the song discusses him, it only talks about how selfish and self-centered he is. The real moral of the song is about how he harms others because of these behaviors. He'll never realize that because he'll only pick up on the parts of the song that mentions him. He's too self-centered to realize there are other people being discussed.
I absolutely agree with you. I was pulling into play the Mick Jagger scenario because it was something I wasn't aware of until WAY after the day the song was written. I was rather embarrassed about my nievite' of the whole situation because I was a fan of both... or rather, all three. What a dummy I was. I'm glad to know, we both know, what the song is really about. You're awesome and it's always good to see you! Happy! Happy!
SavvyAnsley 