I bet you think this song is about you
SCENE: EXT. 7th Ave. Barnes & Noble, Park Slope, Brooklyn. A weekend morning. Swarms of polished moms pushing expensive strollers down the sidewalk. Earnest Times readers with paper coffee cups. Dogs on leashes. Bright sunshine. Too much traffic.
A twentysomethingish female, ethnically ambiguous and charmingly (she hopes) unkempt, crosses the street toward the store. She is accompanied by a handsome male who is precisely twenty-five and very tall.
They turn to walk past the store display windows when the girl stops suddenly.
GIRL (pointing at window): Look!
BOY: What?
GIRL (jabbing her finger in the air): Look! Look!
BOY: Look at what? What are you talking about?
GIRL: Look!
She stands directly in front of the window, tapping on the glass. A large poster of CARLY SIMON is prominently displayed. In the picture, CARLY is wearing a glamourous white outfit, her hair elegantly streaked, her equine features stretched into a seductive smile. The GIRL is very excited.
GIRL: Carly!
BOY: Okay... so? What, you want that?
The poster is an advertisement for Carly's latest album, Moonlight Serenade. Barnes & Noble is offering an exclusive version featuring a bonus track, "My Foolish Heart."
GIRL: No, no, I don't want it. I just-
BOY: What?
GIRL: I just like Carly. I hadn't thought of her in a while.
The pair continues up 7th Avenue, but the poster reminded the GIRL that she does, indeed, like Carly, primarily because she grew up listening to her, and because "You're So Vain" was one of the very first songs she ever loved. It is a great song, far and away Carly's most popular, and deservedly so. Everyone knows it, but when was the last time you actually listened to it, eh?
Labels: Mary
posted by mary @ 5:23 PM
7 Comments:
I actually like everything about "you're so vain" except the chorus (which is the reason everyone likes it, right?). I'm more of an "anticipation" person. dino jr used to cover that in a terrifying way.
really? I didn't know that. I've always wondered why some indie rock heroes didn't tackle "ysv."
perhaps people think it's too obvious a cover choice? maybe contributor george & his band of thieves can tackle it sometime in the future.
Motley Crue already covered YSV, I think.
Now "Jesse," there's prime coverbait - an ode to getting back into a self-destructive relationship:
Oh, Jesse/let's open the wine/and drink to the heart that has a will of its own/Our friends: let's comfort them/they're feeling bad/they think I've sunk so low.
When I hear "Anticipation," I don't think of anything but Heinz ketchup. This is because it was one of the very first examples of hit-song-as-advertising-background-music.
I think the itsy bitsy spider figured into it somehow.
"nobody does it..." is great. radiohead like to cover that one. I had no idea it was a james bond song! I sometimes miss lyrics entirely.
no one rocks the flowy garms like carly. word, ms marta.
I heart "nobody does it" too.
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