你是如此爱慕虚荣 (1972)

"You're So Vain" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released as a single in November 1972. The lyrics describe a self-absorbed lover, whose identity has long been a matter of speculation. Simon said the song refers to three men, one of whom she has named publicly—the actor Warren Beatty.

Simon wrote "You're So Vain" over the course of a year. The song was originally titled "Bless You, Ben." The bass guitar introduction was played by Klaus Voormann. The strings were arranged by Simon and orchestrated by Paul Buckmaster.

In early 1973, "You're So Vain" reached No. 1 in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1994, it was ranked 72nd in the Billboard 50th anniversary all-time chart. At the 16th Annual Grammy Awards in 1974, it was nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It was voted No. 216 in RIAA's Songs of the Century, and in August 2014, the UK's Official Charts Company named it the ultimate song of the 1970s. In 2021, the song was ranked 495th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Lyrics

Before Simon rewrote the lyrics, the song was titled "Bless You, Ben". She first rewrote the chorus lyric "You're so vain / You probably think this song is about you". A year later, she saw a man wearing a scarf arrive at a party and study himself in a mirror. A friend of Simon's said that "he looks like he's walking onto a yacht", inspiring the rest of the lyrics.

Simon used the word "gavotte", a French dance, as it provided a necessary rhyme and "that's what a pretentious, vain man would do". The line "They were clouds in my coffee" was inspired by a comment from her piano player, Billy Mernit, who observed that clouds were reflected in a cup of coffee she was drinking.

The lyrics "Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally won / Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia, to see the total eclipse of the sun" may refer to the solar eclipse of March 7, 1970, that was visible along the east coast of North America, or the solar eclipse of July 10, 1972, which was only visible in northern and eastern Canada. Simon told the CBC that she took artistic license with the reference, and the subject may not have actually witnessed the eclipse in Nova Scotia. In the 2012 biography More Room in a Broken Heart: The True Adventures of Carly Simon, she stated: "I didn't know anyone who raced at Saratoga or went to view the total eclipse of the sun. I just wanted to portray someone who thought he was ultra-cool."

Subject

In 1972, Simon told an interviewer that the song was about "men", not a specific man. In 1983, she said it was not about Mick Jagger, who contributed uncredited backing vocals to the song (Simon said she invited him to join the recording when he made a call into the studio.) In a 1993 book, Angie Bowie said she was the "wife of a close friend" mentioned in the song, and that Jagger had been "obsessed" with her.

Simon appeared as a guest artist on Janet Jackson's 2001 single "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)", which sampled "You're So Vain". In "Son of a Gun", Simon recites the lines "The apricot scarf was worn by Nick / Nothing in the words referred to Mick." "Nick" is the novelist Nicholas Delbanco, whom Simon dated in the 1960s. Simon also denied that the song was about her ex-husband James Taylor. David Bowie, David Cassidy and Cat Stevens have been cited by the press as other possibilities.

In August 2003, Simon agreed to reveal the subject to the highest bidder of the Martha's Vineyard Possible Dreams charity auction. The highest bid was $50,000 from Simon's friend Dick Ebersol, the president of NBC Sports. A condition of the prize was that Ebersol not reveal the name. Simon allowed him to divulge a clue, and he said the person's name contained the letter E. In 2004, Simon said the name also contained the letters A and R. In 2005, Simon's ex-husband, Jim Hart, said he was sure the song was not about anyone famous.

In her 2008 book Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller includes a detailed account of Simon's love affair with the musician Dan Armstrong, suggesting that he was the inspiration. However, Simon's heartbreak over losing him inspired the song "Dan, My Fling", which appeared on her first album. After her 2014 interview on his radio show, Howard Stern said Simon had privately revealed the identity to him, saying, "There is an odd aspect to it... He's not that vain." He also said it was a composite of three people. Simon confirmed that she had given the names to a few people, including Stern.