You're So Vain

I have always loved this song, and especially the line, "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." My interpretation is that this song is written for one person, and NOT that that person is necessarily vain, but that there is an irony here. In a sense, the singer is saying, "You think this song is about you," and the singer is trying to delude herself into thinking that the song is NOT about you, but it really is about you, so therein lies the irony. It's like a husband and a wife having a heated argument, and the wife says, "You think that I care what you think? Well, I don't!" But the emotion behind the comment proves that the person really does care and is trying to convince not just the other person but herself that she doesn't care. So it is a wonderful example of irony of speech, which is what I believe is at the heart of this song.