Apparently not:



Simon names who's 'So Vain'
Feb. 26, 2010, 9:54 AM EST
WENN- Carly Simon has ended nearly 40 years of speculation by finally naming the man who inspired her hit "You're So Vain" - her target was gay record label boss David Geffen.

The song, which catapulted the singer to fame in 1972, was rumored to be about one of her ex-boyfriends, who include Hollywood legend Warren Beatty and rocker Sir Mick Jagger, but she had persistently refused to name the man behind the track.

But Simon has now revealed who was so vain by giving fans a cryptic clue in an acoustic version of the song, which features on her upcoming album "Never Been Gone."

She tells Uncut magazine, "You know what, I'm just going to tell you this. The answer is on the new version of 'You're So Vain,' on my new record 'Never Been Gone.' There's a little whisper and it's the answer to the puzzle."

The singer whispers Geffen's name backwards in the track, according to Britain's The Sun newspaper.

Geffen ran Simon's Elektra Records label at the time of the song's release and instead of being about a failed relationship, the lyrics are now thought to hint at the singer's lingering resentment after Geffen allegedly put more effort into promoting rival star Joni Mitchell.

[music.msn.com]

Didn't she sell the secret once at a charity event to a bidder who was sworn never to reveal the name? Bet that bidder was David Geffen!

According to Carley Simon's website, it was NBC executive Dick Ebersol who paid $50,000 in 2003 to find out the truth. I wonder if she'll offer him his money back now.

I always knew Mick isn't vain.

no but all his love's in vain.

but no shame, well, up til Streets of Love.

Clouds in my coffee----Get off of my cloud....hmmm.

It has to be about Mick, right?

Or some gay record producer.

......uhmm..important distinction...record producer... that happens to be gay.

I always found it a gay song

I never heard from any credible source that this song was about Mick. Mick is on the song (his backup vocals are unmistakable), but it's not about him. I've had to school many a frumpy soccer-mom on this!

[thepowergoats.com]

21, It's OK and Regardless, it's still a fantastic backing vocal by Jagger.

Quote
jamesfdouglas
I never heard from any credible source that this song was about Mick. Mick is on the song (his backup vocals are unmistakable), but it's not about him. I've had to school many a frumpy soccer-mom on this!

What about the hot soccer moms? were they more knowledgeable?

Obviously not, as "had to school many a frumpy soccer-mom" makes it quite clear they were ignorant to the facts, thus making them actually totally unknowledgeable about the subject matter.

Great song but Carly Simon sure has milked this silly game of "I've got a secret and I ain't telling...Oh, but I'll give you a little hint...but then again, I may be just kidding...giggle giggle" for a long time.

The song has nothing to do with Mick. There's a line that says 'you went up to Saratoga where your horse natually won and you blow your lid in Nova Scotia..... Those words are so Un - Mick like. Doesn't sound like any of Mick's interest. Sounds like Warren Beatty

That great guitar solo in You're so Vain is by Jimmy Ryan. One of the best leads!
That's also Jim Gordon on drums.

Son of a gun

Of course it's not about Mick. If someone wrote an insulting song about you, would YOU sing background on it? There's also some famous Joni Mitchell song that's about David Geffen. Free Man In Paris? I tell ya, being gay is a great way to pick up chicks.

Carly was very savvy about PR and look how long she's kept the "who is he?" thing going.

Quote
stonesrule
Carly was very savvy about PR

Kinda like Mick, huh?

here's an interesting Your So Vain/Miss you Mash-up:

I think Carly Simon comes off looking very silly after what? 40 years 'revealing' it was about so-and-so. Takes away from a very good tune and hit single. I can never even sing that chorus without going into Jagger's harmony.
But since someone just posted a Mash-Up, I must post the best Mash-Up ever done. It has absolutely nothing to do with Carly Simon, so sorry for that, but any Stones fan will dig this one.

>> the best Mash-Up ever done ... any Stones fan will dig this one <<

way cool - that was worthwhile! thanks for posting it and have some popcorn :E

You are all wrong. It was actually about former British prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

that is a very cool Mash Up indeed Palace Revolution. I think I heard the beat from "Slave" in there too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-28 20:17 by ryanpow.

Yep RyanPow that sure Slave. Clever guy who mashed that up. Way cool.

NickB

You can't always get what you want.....

www.myspace.com/thesonkings

Oh Edith Grove, always one of my favorite posters, if Mick hadn't been well brought up and had learned to be savvy about PR and business, there wouldn't have been a Rolling Stones past the mid-Seventies. He loves having an audience and so do the others, no matter what they say.

I still say the song was about Richard Nixon......

In January of 1973, You're So Vain was the # 1 hit song on the radio. Carly had just married fellow pop-superstar James Taylor a month before, so when You're So Vain hit the airwaves, it stirred intense curiosity about which one of her previous lovers was the subject of this wry nod to the male ego.

Was it Mick Jagger? Cat Stevens? Warren Beatty? Kris Kristofferson? It was common knowledge that she had been involved with each of them in the past.

Carly has never revealed who she had in mind when she wrote You're So Vain, and over 37 years later, interviewers are still asking her this same question........

Rolling Stone - 1973

RS: Some people think "You're So Vain" is about James.

Carly: No, it's definitely not about James, although James suspected that it might be about him because he's very vain. No, he isn't, but he had the unfortunate experience of taking a jet up to Nova Scotia after I’d written the song. He was saved by the fact that it wasn’t a Lear.

RS: You mentioned the "contest" going on about who it's about. What would be the clearest statement you would want to make on who the song was about?

Carly: The contest is run by this man in Los Angeles named Winkler, and he had his listeners call in to cast their ballot as to who they thought the song was about. Kris Kristofferson is leading.

A lot of people think it's about Mick Jagger and that I have fooled him into actually singing on it, that I pulled that ruse. And some of the people think it's about James. But I can't possibly tell who it's about because it wouldn't be fair.

Its about me.....ha... she said James Taylor