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"You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you¿" Who is this egotistical man Carly Simon sings about? Unfortunately, as we discovered on Simon's official web site, she refuses to definitively name names. She gets asked the question so often, her site dedicates a whole page to examining the riddle of this song. The hit song from January 1973 describes a wealthy, handsome man who jets around the world and romances countless women -- even the wife of a close friend. He seems to value his own reflection in the mirror more than he values any woman. When the song debuted,
Simon had recently married pop musician James Taylor. Before her marriage, she had been involved with celebrities like Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, and Cat Stevens. Naturally, people suspected she wrote the song about either her husband or one of her past paramours. In Rolling Stone that year, Simon admitted, "It's definitely not about James," presumably referring to her then-husband. But she also said, "I can't possibly tell who it's about because it wouldn't be fair." And ever since, Simon has refused to point the finger. In 1983, she told the Washington Post: "It certainly sounds like it was about Warren Beatty. He certainly thought
it was about him -- he called me and said thanks for the song." She didn't confirm that the song was about Beatty, although many have assumed it's about him because of his legendary vanity. Mick Jagger has also been a popular suspect, even though he sang backing vocals on the track. In the same issue of Rolling Stone, Simon commented, "A lot of people think it's about Mick Jagger and that I have fooled him into actually singing on it, that I pulled that ruse." The closest Simon has come to pinning down her source material was in an interview in 1989. She reportedly acknowledged that the song is partly about Beatty, but he was just part of a composite of three men she knew while living in Los Angeles. In an interview with Charlie Rose in 2000, Simon noted that, "Most songs are
a composite," although she didn't elaborate on who the other two men might be. In the end, Simon may be keeping mum about the man to preserve some mystery about her biggest hit. As she noted in a 2001 interview with Sunday Morning's Rita Braver: "I could never really solve it because, if I did, then no one would have anything to talk to me about." Although they could always ask what the lyrics "clouds in my coffee" are supposed to mean.
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