Music and Life: There Were Clouds in My Coffee

Way back before TSwift was even thought of Carly Simon wrote a song dedicated to some guy who is really vain and must have really ticked her off. When I was a kid I remember every time this song would come on the radio I would say to my mom, "This song makes no sense! Of course it's about him. And who is 'he' anyway? " and she would just say something like, "That's the point" and "No one knows who it's really about." I just couldn't get it. It seemed silly to write a song about someone being so vain they thought the song was about them when it was obviously about them.

Now that I'm grown, I get it. The point is that if he really is that vain he's probably been driving himself crazy all these years wondering if it's REALLY about HIM, right? And, on top of that, she could be driving more than one dude crazy at the same time. I now think Carly Simon is a freaking genius! Oh, and TayTay ain't got nothing on her when it comes to using a song to exact revenge on an ex.

I heard the song in my car the other day and the first thing I thought of was the conversations I had with my mom about it as a kid. I love how music can bring back memories - sometimes good, sometimes not. Then I realized that I really like the song now and I listened to the lyrics. For the next couple days the line, "I had some dreams - there were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee" kept running thru my head. I finally had to look up what she meant and this is what Carly herself had to say:  

"Clouds in my coffee" are the confusing aspects of life and love. That which you can't see 

through, and yet seems alluring...until. Like a mirage that turns into a dry patch. 

Perhaps there is something in the bottom of the coffee cup that you could read if you could 

(like tea leaves or coffee grinds). Carly Simon 5/17/01 

Huh?  Okay, I can go with that.

So, are there any songs that have "grown on you" as you've grown up? Any memories of your own that this song brings to mind for you? Or maybe you have a "vain" ex you secretly dedicate this song to every time you hear it?