Songfacts reminds us that in "
You're So Vain," Carly Simon sang about the subject having flown his Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun. Nova Scotia was indeed the prime viewing location for that eclipse (July 10, 1972), but the song came out
before the event. Songfacts posits three theories, but we have one more. They ask:
- Did she write the lyric in past tense because she did not think the record would be released until after the eclipse? Or she did not think it would become popular until after the eclipse?
- Did this guy tell her about the upcoming eclipse and his plans to see it? Or did she know about the eclipse herself or did some other friend tell her about it as she was writing the lyrics - and she knew this guy would possibly fly to Nova Scotia to see the eclipse?
- Did this guy actually fly to Nova Scotia to see the eclipse? Or, did the release of this record actually make him decide NOT to fly to Nova Scotia to see the eclipse (AND, was this Carly Simon's purpose in writing the lyric)?
We would posit that the eclipse detail was included to ensure that the subject of the song didn't merely "probably" think this song was about him but rather be left with no doubt whatsoever (knowing that he had spoken of his Nova Scotia plans to Simon). The detail of the apricot-colored scarf wouldn't have been enough, since "apricot" was surely put in to rhyme with "gavotte."
