November 1972 – a pre-Bond theme Carly Simon drops “You’re So Vain” and sends it straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Since then rumour and speculation about the subject of the song has spiralled its way through talk shows and interviews and message boards. With a verdict far from sight.
Fast Forward to present day where diss tracks are commonplace in music with hardened diss veteran Eminem recently taking on and thoroughly beating Machine Gun Kelly. The ‘beef’ between “Em” and “MGK” was very public and covered by mainstream media with everyone and their Nan’s Cat having an opinion on whomever won. Never before had a diss war been covered so widely with Eminem’s early feuds with Insane Clown Posse and Ja Rule staying within in the confines of the underground Rap world. Exactly where Insane Clown Posse and their Juggalos should be, as far from mainstream media as possible.
Prefixing these trash talking, bar spitting, nuance lacking songs that just violently, disgustingly verbally attack one another’s livelihood there was Carly Simon, the sweet folk singer from the Bronx who was slaying with her subtle hints of shade. Carly was ‘#slaying’ like the ‘#queen’ she was before the likes of ‘Lil’ Kim’, ‘Azealia Banks’ and ‘M.I.A.’ were even born let alone slaying one another rhapsodically with their songs.
In her song “You’re So Vain” she calls out an unknown man for being so vain that he thinks the song is about him. Wait, what? There’s so much shade there I don’t know where to start!
Warren Beatty, a prime suspect subject of Simon’s song, said in an interview “Let’s be honest. That song was about me”. Those verbatim words perfectly illustrates Carly Simon’s distain for her lyrical prey as he encapsulates the vanity of the still yet-to-be-known subject.
All in all, Simon is straight up savage with her verbal undressing of the man who gavottes his way through a party whilst ogling himself in a mirror. Vanity thy name is who?
Rhys Ash Powell 