A Stutter, Butter & Clouds in My Coffee

Carly Simon developed a severe stutter around the age of six. It followed no laws or patterns. She spent years with psychiatrists and speech therapists who tried to cure her stammer with little progress.

Desperate to give her daughter a bit of relief, Carly’s mother turned to music. One night at the dinner table, Carly became frantic when couldn’t successfully ask her family to “pass the butter.” Her mother made a simple suggestion that changed the course of her entire life.

“Carly, darling — try singing it.”

Carly began tapping out a rhythm with her foot. She realized she could say the words on the off beat, on a syncopation of the 4/4. She added a little melody — until the whole table joined in to sing Carly Simon’s first original tune, “Pass the Butter.”

This became a regular occurrence in the Simon home. She learned percussion by using tableware at dinner and her family conversations became songs. Making music allowed Carly to practice using her voice without the fear of stuttering. Singing gave her confidence to speak freely, much like lyrics allow us to tell difficult stories.

That night at the table was a turning point. Carly’s mother booked an appointment with an experimental music therapist who used the process of singing to uncover traumatizing secrets that triggered Carly's stutter in the first place.

Carly Simon learned to sing when she could not speak.

She has mostly overcome the severity of a stammer that plagued her childhood. Although it has made an appearance throughout her life, singing became a release of shame and the catalyst for a lifelong career in music.

If you ask Taylor Swift her favorite lyric of all time, she’ll tell you it’s— “I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee” from 'You're so Vain' by Carly Simon. After years of speculation and rumors about the subject of Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain', she finally admitted who she wrote the song about.

Fans have named Mick Jagger, her ex-husband James Taylor, David Bowie, producer David Geffen and even Cat Stevens as the subject of Carly's most famous song. But Carly Simon has finally revealed that 'You're So Vain' was about actor Warren Beatty, who she dated in the early 1970s. If you listen carefully, you’ll even hear Mick Jagger singing back up vocals on the track.  

“Let all the dreamers wake the nation.”

— CARLY SIMON