# Carly Simon reveals "You're So Vain" inspiration **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536 "2010-02-26T17:38:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/41 "2010-02-27T03:26:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Simon has claimed all along that the subject of the song was a composite of a few people she knew. > > It’s the Apocalypse, I tells ya! First Deep Throat comes forward, then Carly Simon reveals the subject of “You’re So Vain.” Looks like the world might really end in 2012, after all. Actually, I think that means the world ended in 1973. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/42 "2010-02-27T05:17:43Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > WHO IS DAVID GEFFEN? Keanu Reeves’ secret lover. Sometimes they employ Kevin Bacon as a fluffer, which, while adding to the confusion, resolves the “degrees of seperation” issue. You can thank me now or later, try the veal, tip your waitresses, I’ll be hier all ze veek… ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/43 "2010-02-27T05:48:21Z")
Other entertainment revelations out this week: [ul] [li]The horse’s name was actually “Jeff” all along. [/li][li]2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar,1 tsp baking soda,1 tsp salt,1 tsp cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups oil, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 2 tbls red food coloring, 1 tsp white distilled vinegar, 1 tsp vanilla. Bake at 350 deg. Keep dry. [/li][li]It refers to the odd feeling you get during a simultaneous fart/hiccup, a condition often associated with being in love. [/li][li]The hotel was a particularly high income/rent earner when built on a novelty Monopoly game set put out by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/44 "2010-02-27T06:52:24Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Other entertainment revelations out this week: > > [ul] > [li]The horse’s name was actually “Jeff” all along. [/li][li]2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar,1 tsp baking soda,1 tsp salt,1 tsp cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups oil, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 2 tbls red food coloring, 1 tsp white distilled vinegar, 1 tsp vanilla. Bake at 350 deg. Keep dry. [/li][li]It refers to the odd feeling you get during a simultaneous fart/hiccup, a condition often associated with being in love. [/li][li]The hotel was a particularly high income/rent earner when built on a novelty Monopoly game set put out by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.[/li][/ul] ok I got 1,2 and 4 but am missing the song in #3. This is going to bug me. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/45 "2010-02-27T07:08:34Z")
Okay can somebody now tell me if 25 or 6 to 4 is really about acid?? Damn i thought it was about Beatty too… Dammit to me it will always be about beatty!! Funny i just read dallas taylor’s autobio(drummer for CSNY) and he pretty much nails geffen as a real SOB… Stills is old and fat… Nyro is dead… and Geffen is richer than any of the people he “managed” lol ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/46 "2010-02-27T07:19:55Z")
I’m trying to recapture my youth as a heterosexual young man who was rather good looking at the time and comparing myself with a gay guy like David Geffen. Really, I folded when I thought it was Mick. If I had imagined it was anybody like Geffen I’d’ve continued to raise my hand long past was prudent. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/47 "2010-02-27T07:44:23Z")
Can somebody explain to me why every word of the song must be the literal truth and fact? Couldn’t some stuff have been added simply to spice it up, be bad recollections or for the simple expedient of rhyming and or rhytymn. It could be because I’m stupid, but I hate this constant search for the “one true meaning” - it could simply be the artists muse on the day, why do we really need to know - isn’t it more important what the song “does” to us, and what we take the meaning to be? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/48 "2010-02-27T07:50:20Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > WHO IS DAVID GEFFEN? He was the “G” in _Dreamworks SKG_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/49 "2010-02-27T09:15:07Z")
> [@Chicagojeff](#): > > Okay can somebody now tell me if 25 or 6 to 4 is really about acid?? As always, [the Master (and his acolytes, the SDSAB) is there for you.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1842/what-does-the-chicago-lyric-25-or-6-to-4-mean) In a nutshell, Robert Lamm says it’s basically about staying awake past 3 in the morning and trying to write a song. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/50 "2010-02-27T10:43:23Z")
I “know” she sang “Anticipation” for me. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/51 "2010-02-27T11:02:08Z")
I still want to know who the lyricist on the grassy knoll was. Carly Simon did not write alone. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/52 "2010-02-27T11:39:44Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > ok I got 1,2 and 4 but am missing the song in #3. This is going to bug me. I suspect that might be the “pompatus of love” from Steve Miller’s The Joker. > **[In Steve Miller’s “The Joker,” what is “the pompatus of love”?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342137/in-steve-miller-s-the-joker-what-is-the-pompatus-of-love)** - ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/53 "2010-02-27T13:43:46Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I “know” she sang “Anticipation” for me. She’s always been coy about “You’re So Vain,” and has contradicted herself numerous times. But she’s always been straightforward about “Anticipation.” She wrote it before going on a date with… Cat Stevens??? He must have been a fun guy before he became a militant Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/54 "2010-02-27T13:45:34Z")
Now, all we need to do is find out who Alanis is yelling at in _You Oughta Know_! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/55 "2010-02-27T13:53:34Z")
Also, they just found an old bowling trophy in the water under the Tallahatchee Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/56 "2010-02-27T13:56:59Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Also, they just found an old bowling trophy in the water under the Tallahatchee Bridge. Actually, it was a T-Bone Walker record. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/57 "2010-02-27T17:18:21Z")
This just in: though she had a feminine gait and a masculine vernacular, she was, in fact, a duck. ETA: Thanks for the backup, **Rrose Selavy** — I should have said it _means_ the odd feeling… ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/58 "2010-02-27T20:45:55Z")
Well even if it was [Geffen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Geffen) who is a gay male, it still fits. It starts with “You walked into the party.” OK this describes a very vain man. Gay men are much more vainer about their looks than straights. Especially in those days. Fine so far “…And all the girls dreamed that they’d be your partner.” OK this can be interpreted in two ways. He was appealing to women, which many gay men are. Or that they wanted him to represent them as an agent. Back then he was manager of such people as Jackson Browne and Laura Nyro. Then Simon says she was jilted, this again can be as a would be lover or as an agent/client. She had dreams that were clouds in her coffee. What could be a bigger “cloud in her coffee” than being in love with a gay guy. The last verse again describes a rich life style and the guy is covering for his homosexuality by hanging out with wives (beards) and the spy refers to the secretiveness of being gay back then. OK this is a strech but the woman uses the word [Gavotte](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavotte) in the song. You have to allow for some creative license. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/59 "2010-02-27T21:47:08Z")
So, all that’s left is to find out what they threw off the Tallahachie bridge, yeah? eta: damn, didn’t see the page 2, sorry ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/60 "2010-02-27T22:49:45Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > Now, all we need to do is find out who Alanis is yelling at in _You Oughta Know_! You’ll be very disappointed to know its that geek ass comedian Dave Coulier who was on full house.. Alanis should’ve known what a geek he was LOL [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536.md?page=4)