Carly Simon reveals part of Youre So Vain blind item: its about Warren Beatty!
Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” is one of the most classic and beloved songs in her catalog, and it’s considered one of the top 100 greatest songs of all time. I still listen to it all the time too – it’s got a sexy feel to it, but the lyrics are basically the greatest blind item in the history of blind-item songs. Taylor Swift doesn’t have ANYTHING on Carly Simon, because even decades later, Carly still hadn’t given up the identity of the Vain Douche who is the subject of the song. Most people believe that the song is about James Taylor (Carly’s ex-husband), Mick Jagger (who sang backing vocals on the song), Warren Beatty (an ex-boyfriend), David Bowie (sure?), Cat Stevens (eh) and David Geffen (totes). While Carly has refused to give up one name, she’s always maintained that the song is about more than one guy. As in, a lot of dudes were screwing her over around that time and the “dude” she’s singing to in the song is an amalgam of several different men. Well, now Carly is giving up part of her blind item.
For 44 years, the subject of “You’re So Vain” has remained one of pop music’s most enduring mysteries. But at long last, Carly Simon has solved the mystery – well, sort of. The singer, 70, tells PEOPLE that the second verse of her famous song refers to none other than Warren Beatty.
“I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren,” she tells PEOPLE in an interview pegged to her much-anticipated memoir, Boys in the Trees, to be released later this month.
Does Beatty know about the seminal role he plays in the song? In keeping with its theme, “Warren thinks the whole thing is about him!” says Simon.
The mother and grandmother, who still resides in the same Martha’s Vineyard home she shared with former husband James Taylor, explains that the other verses refer to two other men – and she still isn’t naming names. Will she ever? “I don’t think so,” she says, “at least until they know it’s about them.”
Wait, the second verse is about Beatty? Huh. This is the second verse:
You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and…
While that could totally be about Beatty – and if Carly says so, I believe her – I’ve always thought that the first verse had more of a Beatty stench:
You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they’d be your partner
They’d be your partner, and…
That’s exactly what Warren Beatty was like back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. HE WAS SO VAIN. To be fair, after reading excerpts from Girls Like Us, the lyrics do sound like Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, James Taylor and probably dozens of other dudes that were circling around Carly around this time. Anyway, now you know: “You’re So Vain” is at least partially about Warren Beatty, which is what most people believe anyway.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
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