Word on the street is that rom-coms are back. Original films like Voicemails for Isabelle and book adaptations like People We Meet On Vacation and The Love Hypothesis have been flooding the streaming platforms as of late. But did rom-coms ever really leave? If you’ve seen any of the publicity for The Love Hypothesis, odds are you’ve seen Lili Reinhart’s press tour dresses that pay homage to iconic rom-coms like 13 Going On 30 and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Rom-coms like these never left the cultural imagination, and there was certainly never a lapse of them on my personal screen. I, for one, have found three separate occasions to watch When Harry Met Sally … and write about it for class. The immediate recognizability of Reinhart’s wardrobe proves that rom-coms can’t really be “back” if they never actually left. Her homage to Kate Hudson’s iconic dress in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days did leave me with another lingering thought, though: how interesting the synonymity of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is. Simon’s body of work is incredibly expansive yet still personal, and she has the uncanny ability to write a song that is both lyrically specific and can apply to almost any woman. This is why “You’re So Vain” works so well in the film — Carly Simon understands herself, but she also understands you. Simon writes songs that meet a girl where she’s at, so this week’s Test Spin is dedicated to the home of “You’re So Vain,” the 1972 record No Secrets.
The record kicks off with “The Right Thing to Do,” which Simon wrote for her then-husband James Taylor. In fact, Simon has said that Taylor himself played with the lyrics a bit. Overall, it’s a sweet song in both sound and lyrics: “Hold me in your hands like a bunch of flowers / Set me movin’ to your sweetest song / And I know what I think I’ve known all along / Lovin’ you’s the right thing to do,” she croons. Simon proves herself as a master storyteller in “The Carter Family,” where she recounts the rise and fall of multiple relationships through a series of vignettes. She reflects on love and loss in the forms of her connections with Gwen Carter, her grandmother and the intended listener, her love interest. Guitarist Jimmy Ryan’s twangy outro makes it feel like you’ve floated in and out of Simon’s mind. As you probably already know, “You’re So Vain” is the colossus on No Secrets, and for good reason. This is the premiere drag-him-through-the-mud song, and although the lyrics are very particular, who Simon was thinking of when writing this is an extremely well-kept secret (Warren Beatty has been floated around, and Mick Jagger singing backup has drawn some attention, but we can never be sure). Perhaps that’s why so many people have claimed it for themselves.
Simon’s voice takes on an angelic quality in “His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin,” a stripped-back deep cut that relies heavily on the piano. “We Have No Secrets” is one of my favorite songs on the record. Simon reluctantly learns to take the bad along with the good, singing, “In the name of honesty, in the name of what is fair / You always answer my questions / But they don’t always answer my prayers.” The raw lyrics are set against an appropriately moody, bass-heavy sound. In “Embrace Me, You Child,” Simon delves into the complex dynamic between her and her father. This is far and away the most challenging song on No Secrets, showcasing a vast vocal range. It’s also a lyrical behemoth: “I pretended not to notice I’d been abandoned / But no one sang the night into the day / And later nighttime songs came back again / But the singers don’t compare with those I knew,” she sings, reflecting on the aftershock of her father’s death. “Waited So Long” is a funky, bluesy rock-and-roll song in which Simon claims her sexuality, while “It Was So Easy” is folksy and full of nostalgia. “Night Owl” takes on more of a classic rock sound complete with horn accoutrements, and Simon’s voice develops a throatier sound. The lyrics are interestingly androgynous, allowing her to more easily fit into the conventions of early ’70s classic rock: “But my eyes are made for darkness / So the nighttime is right for me / ‘Cause I’m a night owl honey, sleep all day long.” “When You Close Your Eyes” closes out the album with a romantic, dreamy ballad.
The makers of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days understood two key things: that the most exciting atmosphere they could create for the film was a Knicks finals run (!), and that Carly Simon knows women. In the film, Kate Hudson’s character, Andie, claims to know the classic blunders women commit as they begin to build a relationship, and she acts them out on Matthew McConaughey’s character, Ben, who has his own ulterior motives. As part of her plan, Andie loudly sings along to “You’re So Vain” over the Knicks game, and while Ben is a bit peeved, he doesn’t end it, shocking Andie. When “You’re So Vain” comes back at the peak of the conflict between them, it works just as well as it did the first time, but in an entirely new context. Through the bets and the article, there’s something that ties these two people together, and Carly Simon sticks with them the whole way.
Test Spins is a fortnightly throwback column reviewing and recommending classic and underrated albums from the past. It runs every other Friday.
Sydney Levinton is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a senior editor specializing in music and was the arts and culture editor on the 142nd and 143rd Editorial Boards. She can be reached at slevinton@cornellsun.com.
