Has Carly Simon Finally Revealed Who She Was Singing About in “You’re So Vain?”
It’s a question people have long pondered: Who exactly was Carly Simon singing about in her hit tune “You’re So Vain?” Carly herself has always refused to name the individual who inspired the song, leaving the matter open to wild speculation. Was it Warren Beatty? Cat Stevens? Mick Jagger? Some random non-famous individual who happened to be incredibly vain? It seemed Carly would go to her grave without ever giving up the truth. Then, someone listened a little too closely to a new version of “You’re So Vain” Carly made for her album “Never Been Gone” and noticed a weird noise. When the track was played backward, the noise sounded like a whispered name:
David.
As in David Geffen, the gay record producer who was head of Carly’s label at the time the song was originally recorded?
It’s always been assumed that Mr. Vanity was a lover of Carly’s who she felt like burning in a song for one reason or another, but if this story from a British tabloid website is true, she was actually burning Geffen for paying more attention to Joni Mitchell than her. Eh…I never cared that much anyway. Plus it’s kind of interesting that “Never Been Gone” has been out since last year and this is the first we’re hearing about the backward name thing. If you want to hear it for yourself, click here.
Filed Under: Features
