Carly Simon - You're So Vain

About "You're So Vain"

"You're So Vain" is a song written and performed by American singer and songwriter Carly Simon and released in November 1972. It is one of the songs with which Simon is most identified, and in early 1973 reached No. 1 in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1994, it was ranked 72nd in Billboard magazine's 50th anniversary all-time chart. "You're So Vain" was voted No. 216 in RIAA's Songs of the Century, and in August 2014, the UK's Official Charts Company crowned it the ultimate song of the 1970s. In 2021, the song was ranked 495th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song was nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 16th Annual Grammy Awards.

The song is a critical profile of a self-absorbed lover about whom Simon asserts, "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." The title subject's identity has long been a matter of speculation, with Simon stating that the song refers to three men, only one of whom she has named publicly: Warren Beatty.

The distinctive bass guitar intro is played by Klaus Voormann. The strings were arranged by Simon and orchestrated by Paul Buckmaster, and Simon plays piano on the track.

Record World reviewed the single calling it "Carly's most commercial song yet" with "brilliant lyric and melody, and stunning string arrangements by Superwoman Simon."