You’re So Vain

Do you think Walt Whitman would lose in a fight against Carly Simon? Honest opinions only please. 

Now Whitman does have a few things going for him. He’s a decent poet. He knows how to write some really pretty lines that invoke alluring imagery (see “I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass” from his poem “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”). However, he has an ego bigger than the room. I mean, he wrote an entire poem in which the speaker celebrates and sings about himself. Can someone really be that great? On the other hand, Carly Simon is a living icon. She’s in incredibly talented musician and singer-songwriter. She’s had many hit records including the famous “You’re So Vain.” Yes, that is the song from the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and yes it is the song Kate Hudson’s character publicly scream-sings at Matthew McConaughey’s character. Carly Simon is not afraid to call out someone’s narcissism. I don’t think she’d be afraid to put Whitman in his place. At the very least, I think the fight would be pretty fair. 

There is no denying that Whitman’s “I celebrate myself, and sing myself” is egotistical—anything like this would be. There are some problems with this kind of attitude, especially when he says “what I assume you shall assume.” Why would we have the same assumptions when we don’t live the same life? How could we when Whitman has certain privileges that I or other people just don’t have? Its important to acknowledge this nuance to his poem, but I think it is a mistake to dismiss the rest of the poem because of it.

When I first read the poem, I didn’t completely hone in on this narcissism. Instead, I was drawn to the very moving imagery he created, especially with the line I mentioned above about leaning, loafing, and observing grass. Its so peaceful to think about—you’re just being with yourself, enjoying the simple beauty of grass. I also really liked the lines “I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,/ Hoping to cease not till death”. That is just such a pretty sentiment about living and enjoying the world until you no longer are able to. 

So yes, I think Carly Simon could and would knock Whitman out for being a narcissist. But, I also think that she might be thinking about how good his poetry as she does it.


 Here’s a link to the “You’re So Vain” music video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13oJajXx0M

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bang Bang, Shoot Shoot

Image
I have not had a lot of experience with Emily Dickinson before this class, so it has been interesting to read some of her poems for the first time. One of my favorites is her “My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun—”. I am most intrigued by the poem’s central metaphor of women being guns. It encapsulates the oppression of women that is still prevalent in today’s world. Like when the gun is “identified— / And carried…away” (3-4), women are seen as worthless objects until someone, a man, decides to put value into them. At a quick glance, the speaker might seem to thrive in this role of submission. When she “speak[s] for Him— / The Mountains straight reply—” (7-8), meaning that the gun-owner, the man, wields her power to his own advantage. He does not need to talk while hunting or being out in the world because he has this forceful power that “talks” when it is shot. By evoking the image of wilderness with “Sovereign Woods” (5) and “Mountains” (8), a similar idea is presented that her compliance ...
Read more

Church Going

Image
Of all the poems we have read, Philip Larkin’s “Church Going” is among my favorites. The structure, conversational tone, and imagery all facilitate the questions the speaker poses about religion.  As we discussed in class, the poem has a formal construction with seven stanzas, nine lines each, all in iambic pentameter. This strict format is interesting because it reflects the traditional, stateliness of churches themselves; just as the stanzas are solemn, so too are churches a place of stiff dignity (at least that is how we feel about them, or are told to respect them as). The contrast of the speaker’s relaxed tone is therefore emphasized and made even more humorous. He kind of knows what objects in the church are significant but does not respect them: he just walks up to the lectern and quotes a Bible verse louder than necessary. This was startling to read—you don’t just walk up there so casually! Even the echos that “snigger briefly” (16) seem to agree that he is not meant up the...
Read more

On my mind since the flood

Image
Sometimes, its important to get angry about things. Learning your uncle married your mother months after your father’s death? Yeah. Finding out said uncle actually murdered your father, the king? Sure. Taking five whole acts to work up to the courage to take revenge against your uncle? Yep.  But you know what you should really feel angry about? This quote from critic Lee Dewards about Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet : “We can imagine Hamlet’s story without Ophelia, but Ophelia literally has no story without Hamlet.” If you don’t get it, I’ll tell you why you should feel angry. It is true—so incredibly true. This is not just true for Ophelia but so many other female characters in literature. Now, I don’t know enough about Shakespeare to know how consciously he created Ophelia’s character, or if he knew just how much feminist critique would apply to her. My guess, probably not too much. Can I entirely blame the man, given the time he was alive in? Yes I guess probably not. But, no m...
Read more