# You're so Vain, I bet you think this song is about you--- IT IS!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561 "2002-10-02T17:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/1 "2002-10-02T17:53:52Z")
What the heck is she talking about?? the song is about him!!! Is she just being metaphorical by saying he thinks the song is about him even without him knowing the lyrics? Or am i completely lost? (maybe it is about his vainess, but not him…) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/2 "2002-10-02T18:10:20Z")
It was I believe about her past tryst with Warren Beatty but I agree that it makes little sense. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/3 "2002-10-02T19:10:08Z")
Ah, sweet disillusionment. Rumors have it that the singer of “Killing Me Softly” is _not_ actually dying, Don McLean was actually sitting at home flogging his log the day Buddy Holly died, and the members of Kiss actually enjoy rock ‘n’ rolling only until about 2 a.m., partying every third day at most. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/4 "2002-10-02T19:19:56Z")
but… all this time I thought it was about _meeeee!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/5 "2002-10-02T19:24:29Z")
Um… saying Don McLean has a log is a bit much. I was thinking more of a twig. Perhaps a small branch. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/6 "2002-10-02T19:31:37Z")
Very close. Regards, Art R. Ree ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/7 "2002-10-02T20:12:49Z")
That’s just one of many famous songs whose lyrics don’t make much sense, if you give them any thought. ANother favorite example of mine: Don Henley’s “The AGe of Innocence.” A genuine good song, except… He sings “Just lay your head back on the ground, and let your hair fall all around me.” Uh… can this chick’s hair defy gravity??? If she’s laying back on the ground, how is her hair supposed to fall around him? Does her hair fall UP? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/8 "2002-10-02T22:15:36Z")
Aw, c’mon. He’s hearing the song sung but so are a bunch of other people, including, I would imagine, a decent collection of other guys that Carly Simon also once dated. But the specific guy (Warren Beatty) she’s singing about is so vain that she figures as soon as he hears her singing about a guy, he says “Ha, I bet she’s singing about me!” The other guys that it could have _theoretically_ been about instead were probably less likely to assume that the song was about them, at least in Carly Simon’s estimation. And so you point out that it _was_ about him. Well duh. She can’t sing “I bet you think this song is about you, but it’s not” since that would be an unreconcilably paradoxical statement. I suppose she could have sung “I bet someone else (e.g., Warren Beatty) thinks this song is about him, but it’s not, it’s about you” and then proceded to sing about someone she liked a lot better, but that would have been an entirely different song. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/9 "2002-10-02T23:05:50Z")
A couple of points… “You’re so vain” is not about Warren Beatty but about Mick Jagger. Or a composite, as she explains here: [http://www.carlysimon.com/vain/vain.htm](http://www.carlysimon.com/vain/vain.htm) “Killing Me Softly” is about Don McLean. I don’t know if **KneadToKnow** is aware of that, but knowing that sure made me read the first two clauses of that sentence differently. ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/10 "2002-10-02T23:11:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnT \* > \*\*A couple of points… > > “You’re so vain” is not about Warren Beatty but about Mick Jagger. Or a composite, as she explains here: [http://www.carlysimon.com/vain/vain.htm](http://www.carlysimon.com/vain/vain.htm) > > “Killing Me Softly” is about Don McLean. I don’t know if **KneadToKnow** is aware of that, but knowing that sure made me read the first two clauses of that sentence differently. \*\* Umm, where on her site does she say it is about Mick Jagger? I can’t find that statement anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/11 "2002-10-02T23:21:16Z")
For years I wondered the same thing, but in the big picture could she really be singing about herself. Not much sense there either, but think “I’m singing about my experience with you, and I just know you are so vain that you think this is all about you, it was always about you, but I’m important too” Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/12 "2002-10-02T23:36:55Z")
Yeah, I was going to bring up what **kevja** said, that the song could be about her life and her experiences… ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/13 "2002-10-02T23:47:21Z")
Yeah, I’ve always heard that she’d never revealed it, that it was one of those great rock mysteries, etc. Also, why would she reveal the secret? It keeps people interested. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/14 "2002-10-03T00:00:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Umm, where on her site does she say it is about Mick Jagger? I can’t find that statement anywhere. ## From JohnT’s link: 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. So, it’s about Mick Jagger. But in the very next snip, she denies that: * * * 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. So, she’s coy about it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/15 "2002-10-03T00:11:57Z")
Perhaps you oughtta read the whole page, **Fingolfin**? Technically, you are right. But then, she never lets on who the song is about… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/16 "2002-10-03T00:13:16Z")
And to think I always thought she sung: “You walked into a party like you were walking into a yard.” LOL! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/17 "2002-10-03T00:28:04Z")
Is it really that hard to figure out? You’re so vain you think this song is about you. First of all, it’s a delicious paradox. Second, the song IS about the vain person; he’s so vain he thinks the song is about him. That doesn’t mean the song isn’t about him. Third, it’s a joke, son. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/18 "2002-10-03T00:52:05Z")
I always thought it was supposed to be ironic, and very cleverly so, too. As in, “You think the world revolves around you and that you’re all I can think about.” And the irony, of course, is that she wrote a whole song about him/her. With that interpretation, it’s not so important who it’s _really_ about; it could be about any self-important person. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/19 "2002-10-03T01:48:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*That’s just one of many famous songs whose lyrics don’t make much sense, if you give them any thought. > > ANother favorite example of mine: Don Henley’s “The AGe of Innocence.” A genuine good song, except… > > He sings “Just lay your head back on the ground, and let your hair fall all around me.” > > Uh… can this chick’s hair defy gravity??? If she’s laying back on the ground, how is her hair supposed to fall around him? Does her hair fall UP? \*\* _Sigh_ /Crash Davis/ I hate people who get the words wrong! /Crash Davis/ The song is called _The End Of The Innocence_. As for her hair falling all around him, the lyric actually makes more then perfect sense, you just must not be very romantic. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2002, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561/20 "2002-10-03T02:48:58Z")
To continue the Don Henley hijack (and by the way, I just learned that Bruce Hornsby wrote, or at least co-wrote the thing, and plays piano on D.H.'s CD), imagine, if you will, yourself laying in the grass. Your love, with long flowing hair, lays down beside you, and her hair, blowing with the wind as she sinks to the ground, gently comes to rest around you both. There. Done and done. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-so-vain-i-bet-you-think-this-song-is-about-you-it-is/130561.md?page=2)