This post is about you. or you. or you. or you. or you. or you.
Carly Simon recorded You’re So Vain in December, 1972. It went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks.
Nothing in the history of music has been a larger mystery or more aggravting to fans than the question of who exactly is this song about? Carly Simon was, at the time, an incredible superstar — known the world over as the subject of many a celebrity gossip magazine (did they have such things then?) Her list of relationship partners included such top celebrities as Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, and James Taylor.
So who was the song about and what lengths would people go to to find out? Rampant speculation amongst fans and the media picked every line of the song apart to try and decypher exactly who, once you got to know them, was such an egomaniac. Interview after interview was played cool by Ms. Simon, only adding to the speculation. Dick Ebersol (president of NBC sports) paid $50,000 at a charity auction to have Carly perform the song for him and then whisper the answer in his ear. The price also included a luncheon of peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches washed down with vodka on the rocks. He agreed to never tell a soul who it was, but he was allowed to publicly reveal a clue: the letters A and E.
In 2004, Carly Simon was a guest on Regis and Kathy Lee — she again decided to tease the issue and revealed that the persons name also contained the letter R. In 2005, Simons own husband Jim Hart stated, “It’s not about anyone famous.” Another clue or just another way to keep the mystery alive? In 2006, Warren Beatty publicly said that he believed the song was about him (wouldn’t that be a vain thing to admit to?) However, many fans believe that it is not actually about any one person, it is about a general idea or concept of vanity.
Simon, to her credit, continues to remain vague and elusive when it is brought up — yet she still fuels the controversy. The latest clue? Howard Stern claims that she revealed the true identity of the songs subject to him in an off-the-air interview.
Stern said, “There’s an odd aspect to it. He’s not that vain.”
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