Image source: Wikipedia
This is going to be slightly off topic, so you’ve been warned. Carly Simon seems to be bubbling up into pop culture consciousness, even without being included on a Quentin Tarantino/ Wes Anderson film soundtrack. Her controversial “He Hit Me” she wrote that is covered by Grizzly Bear on their Friend EP and in live shows.(Please read comment thread.) On an anecdotal level, a friend, Ray, randomly mentioned that he has been into the Simon track “Why.”
A little additional internet research is showing that she is also releasing her next record on the Starbucks label, and one of her songs was featured on American Idol. I’m waiting to see if she shows up anywhere else. How are these related, if at all? Can the fluctuations of the comeback popular culture be tracked, traced, understood and gasp predicted?
All this leads up to the big question I want to ask, which has to do with her ode (dare I almost say, pre-rap battle?) to Warren Betty (or Kris Kristofferson or Mick Jagger, depending on who you ask) “Your So Vain.”
The lyrics of the accusatory chorus “you’re so vain, you think this song is about you, don’t you?” have always confused me.
um… the song IS about him, isn’t it?
Carly Simon did not write He Hit Me (and it felt like a kiss)–that was Carole King.
but yes, April 29th sees Carly releasing an album of all new material
Ah.. so right. There goes another blog post down in flames. Not sure where my head was when I wrote this post, I was hoping for connections where there were none to be found. I still want to chew the idea of the comeback. Is it just having enough promotion or are these some X factors which give signs that people are ready or open to the idea…
There is a new book coming out, too, about Carly, Carole, and Joni Mitchell.
An excerpt was in this month’s Vanity Fair. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/04/musicgirls200804
a carly comeback would be “the stuff that dreams are made of.” *love* her!
Although the article is about family video gaming, the title, “I Think This Song Is About Me,” perhaps hints that the Carly meme is spreading.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/fashion/27cyber.html?ex=1364270400&en=116858aad0aa0ed9&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss
Comeback? She never went away. Her cd before last opened in the top 10 and she was nominated for a grammy.
I don’t understand. What do you mean by “comeback?” For the real Carly Simon fans, SHE NEVER LEFT! Go back and check the release dates on her cds. Pretty consistent, I would have to say. Face it, Carly never left, but many of her fans did when the marriage broke up and her music became a little too confessional in regards to the bad things in life!
I’m happy with all the comments from Carly Simon fans. I’m glad that she has a loyal fanbase. Sorry, if I didn’t make it clear enough, that I, in fact, like her music and am glad she has been getting more press recently. Apologies if f I confused anyone with the use of the term “comeback.” When I said used the word, I didn’t mean to infer that she wasn’t making recordings, but rather, her name started popping in a lot of places when I hadn’t heard it for a long time, and it piqued my curiosity on what was behind it. (There are plenty of bands and musicans who still put out CDs that I buy, even though, the don’t get as much press, sale, airplay as they used to.) The posting was more about the release of a CD by an decades long established recording artist, and less on the her need for a comeback. I could have easily titled the post “ingredients for a record release,” but that wasn’t was as catchy.
As for Simon CD sales, her last cd peaked at #13 and the one before that #7, on the billboard charts, according to her website. Of course, the cd sales now skew toward older audiences who still buy full CDs, rather younger audiences who illegally download music, or buy digital singles over full CDs. Nevertheless, it is still an important measure of success.
It was an open question on why was I hearing her name, and it appears that it has to due obvious reasons, her new label, Starbucks (who people like to report about) and her PR team getting her into magazines like Vanity Fair. I’m still curious on how these things bubble up from word of mouth, but I’ll save that for another day.
next up: Carly Simon reprising LL Cool J’s great line “Don’t Call it a Comeback–I been hear for years!” ala Alanis’s appropriation of Fergie.