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.
I thought we all knew this?
For decades.
Agreed.
Yeah, this is one of the worst kept “secrets” in music.
Yea, my first reaction to this was deja vu. Old news.
Now what I want to know!…. What is the 1 thing Meatloaf won’t do for love?!
And what was teh phrase whispered in Radiohead’s Just music video that made everyone give up?
Huge non-surprise. But it gets her publicity for the book she’s selling.
Remember around 10 years ago (or more) there was an auction where if you won it, you had dinner with Carly and she would tell the person who the song was about?
Yes and Dick Ebersole won the auction
my thoughts exactly decades
In other “news” Germany has just invaded Poland.
I don’t know why this is a big deal. Didn’t 90% of people think it was Warren? I guess it’s because it’s confirmation but does anybody really care?
You mean we still don’t know definitively who the
apricot-scarf-wearing as*hole is?
Bowie or Jagger. Be really funny if It was Jagger. He did back up vocals on the song!
I heard that scarfy was Jack Nicholson.
I heard that too. And Nicholson was quite fond of his hats. Still is.
Definitely Jagger.
When i first heard it might be Jagger, it thought that would be odd because he’s singing on the song!
The scarf sounds Jaggery, but I don’t see him doing the gavotte or anything like it. Young Jack Nicholson might get away with making this look cool, though as “dancing” in the 1970s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKOXVE_pskA
Or it was a lazy day around the rhyming dictionary.
Old Hollywood’s worst kept secret. Everybody knows. Would have been relevant twenty or thirty years ago, but I think Warren and Mick were the front runners then as well. BTW did you know Taylor hates Katie…….some mysteries aren’t mysterious at all. BUT, I do love that song…..you had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself go by and all the girls dreamed that they’d be your partner……great tune!
“Hollywood’s worst kept secret”, yet, you THINK “Warren and Mick were the front runners”, not sure they’re the actual men she talks about in the song. Yeah, I can see how badly this secret has been kept. 😉
Well actually she said it was Warren so there you go.
Young Warren Beatty was so handsome. I’d be vain too if I looked like that!
You know in the 80/90s I never understood the adoration for Warren Beatty. He was handsome but I was like, he’s not that handsome.
Then I saw Splendor in the Grass and totally got it. He was beautiful.
She on the other hand has aged beautifully, 70 wow
mia: Splendor In the Grass: OMG, if you don’t cry watching that movie, you’re not human! I think Natalie Wood was one of the most beautiful actresses ever. She and Warren were an item, but he always had a roaming eye. Ironically the name of the fateful yacht she was on was named Splendor.
Nancy – That movie blew me away. They both were so young and beautiful and tortured. I think I need to re-watch it. It’s been years. I didn’t realize the name of the yacht was Splendor. Makes Wood’s death all the more tragic.
Loopy – Carly Simon does look great. So does Carol King. What was in the water back then?!
Loopy – totally agree. She looks AMAZING at 70!!
Noticed that the lighting in his movies became darker to hide his age? The last three movies he stared in was like driving through a fog. He is definitely vain.
Just saw him at the San Francisco airport a couple of weeks ago, or actually my husband saw him first and said, “that looks like an old Warren Beatty”, and it was in fact, old Warren Beatty. Annette was with him, and she looked wonderful.
I’m old, so this song is part of the fabric of my growing up — I listened to it about a million times on my old record player back in the 70s. Still love it.
Me, too!
Their daughter Isabel studies film at San Francisco State, so they were visiting her, I’m sure.
I’ve always thought this song was about Warren Beatty.
Speaking of blind item songs, ‘you outta know’ by Alanis Morrisette is supposed to be about Uncle Joey from ‘Fun House’.
It’s amazing that ‘Uncle Joey’ can cause that level of vitriolic anger. ‘Uncle Jesse’ would totes screw you over, but not sweet cuddly ‘uncle joey’.
I can’t even listen to that Alanis song anymore because then I think about her going down on Uncle Joey in a theater. Blech blech blech!
LAK: When I heard Uncle Joey was the subject of her angst, It just ruined it for me. I couldn’t listen to the song in the same way anymore. Some secrets should stay secrets! Go down on him in the theatre…..Uncle Joey…..ick, just ickkk.
Oh my…. just heard the song…. and it gave me the goose bumps. Like, serious goose bumps. Can you imagine feeling that kind of thing for someone? At least she’s still here to remind him!
Alanis has so many “blind item” songs….. just love it!
This reminds me of the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode when Larry and Cheryl are hosting a benefit in their home and Larry tries to get Morrisette to tell him who the song is about.
What??!!!! You’ve completely ruined that song for me. Haha
She was way underage when they were together which makes the song more understandable and more icky.
Hasn’t this pretty much been common knowledge for decades?
It was common guessing. 😉
I also thought this was common knowledge?
The first verse sounds more like Bowie than Beatty to me.
Or Jagger….
Didn’t Mick Jagger do back up vocals on the song?
I thought this was common knowledge.
Fantastic song though
I don’t think it was ever confirmed, just assumed.
Can you imagine if the internet had existed during Warren’s heyday?
Why would Mick sing back up to a song dissing him?
The fool probably didn’t know!!!! lol The ultimate FU!!! “Hey, want to sing backup on my song, that is totally not about you”!!! That woud be such awesome revenge!!!!
I think he’s vain enough to enjoy a song about him whether or not it’s a diss.
He probably took it as a compliment. As in, ‘you think this song is about you, don’t you?’
He was into that hipster irony.
IIRC, Mick was upset when Carly hinted it was Beatty. He WANTED it to be about him.
and why is she bothering to confirm one of three names now?
Trying to stay relevant. Must have a CD coming out.
Actually, she has a book coming out next Tuesday called “Boys in Trees,” I believe.
The surprising thing about Warren is that he was a virgin until like 19, right? He made up for lost time!
Carly Simon…one of my all time girl crushes. I love her looks and her voice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_So_Vain Dick Ebersol won the rights to know Simon’s man behind the lyrics in 2003 for $50K in a charity auction. Weird but true.
And stupid. Just cut a check to the charity and walk away.
Maybe the last verse is about Bowie? The Lear jet and wife of a close friend…
She was never a conventional beauty but she was darn sexxxxyyyy back in the seventies. She still looks great.
Even back when the song was released (yeah, I remember that, that’s how old I am), the rumors were that it was about the triumverate of Beatty, Jagger and Bowie.
She married Taylor and while he had his issues, being vain wasn’t what he was known for.
So, yeah, not a huge surprise here.
And Jesse Winchester, the subject of the song Jesse. Saw her in concert a few years back and she had no problems whatsoever divulging some of the more intimate details of their relationship on stage.
She had some interesting relationships, for sure.
I had also heard Jack Nicholson in contention for one of the You’re So Vain boys, and that’s a real contender.
How was she on stage? She used to have TERRIBLE stage fright.
@BostonGreenEyes, she had the couch, piano, lamp, and rug from her Martha’s Vineyard home, both of her kids, and her dog on stage with her and several family members visible in the front row of the Orpheum to make her feel more comfortable. She engaged in quite a bit of deeply personal chatter that was a bit cringe-worthy and awkward. But the actual music was great.
Not Bowie, says the Ziggy Stardust fan here, but the third is more than likely Jack Nicholsen. He wore a ascots EVERYPWHERE in the 70s. Fug.
Oh my, oh my….. I’m so loving this blind item going on!
The interesting news is two other parts were about two men other than Beatty. I thought the whole song was about him, but I was wrong.
Is she still trying to milk this whole thing?
Seriously??? I love old school gossip and unlike Taylor Swifts crappy songs this is an epic classic. It’s sexy, funny , still infectious and I really am curious who the song is about.
Aaaaand 50 years from now people will feel exactly the same way about Swift. Its called nostalgia.
Naya that song is a classic and iconic in a way that none of Taylor Swifts music is or will ever be. It’s one of the iconic pop songs of the 70s however ubiquitous Taylor is right now in a few years most of her songs will be forgotten.
Glad to see there are others on here who know the song!
Yes, she looks wonderful for 70. And she’s a breast cancer survivor.
What I took away from this is she’s seventy?! Wow.
Oh my god me too. Don’t care for her music which is why I probably never realized how beautiful she is. But she’s SEVENTY? Wow…based on the header photo, she looks fifty TOPS.
You watched yourself gavotte? All these years I thought he watched himself go by. Duh.
I thought the same thing!
I’m sticking with “go by” though. I refuse to sing the word “gavotte”.
Lol
We’ve known this for decades …
Two things this brings to mind. First, I had the best, coolest art teacher in high school, named Sally Sloan. The album came out when I was in grade 9, and she played it in class one day.
Second: When I was 20, and new to NYC for university, I was on maybe my 2nd subway ride with a friend who was a native New Yorker. We were standing up, and as we were chatting I noticed a man standing behind her a few feet away, giving me the eye. I nearly fainted when I realized it was Warren Beatty. I was blushing furiously as he looked me up & down 3 times, slowly, with that expression on his face that was pure Beatty from Shampoo. I didn’t hear a word of what my friend was saying to me! When we got off the subway a few minutes later,
I was all clutching my pearls!
The “yacht guy” was always suspected to be Jack Nicholsen, who was a big ascot wearer at the time.
who cares…..
so is this what Taylor Swift is going to do or what we will do to her once she reverts back to country-lite in her 40s?????
I love her mustic. My mom had all her albums I knew them by heart. Same with Helen Reddy and Carol King.
I kind of like Carly outing a douche in a song because back then, nobody did that. So, it was really a mystery and a bit of a shake up. But she seemed to be attracted to vain dudes. If a guy walked into a party acting like he owned the place and can’t walk by a mirror without admiring himself, I don’t think I’d want to have anything to do with him. And any guy that preens more than me or is more high-maintenance than me, is a definite NO! It’s an obvious give-away that you’re never going to be as important to them as they are to themselves.
And, yes, she looks absolutely amazing for 70!
Carol King’s Tapestry sits prominently in my iTunes music library. What an amazing album. Timeless.
@Justice – I give her a pass for youthfully ignorant bad taste in men. The lyrics tell us that when she was ‘young and still quite naive’ she did not know better. Narcissists can be very good at seduction and she took the bait. She did better in choosing men when she knew better.
Thank you for the old timey gossip, CB! BTW ladies, I am 53 today and was totally into Carly, as well as Linda (Ronstadt) and Joni (Mitchell) back in the day. They were my lady triumvirate!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Green Eyes!
Happy Birthday!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHEH1Kld7p8
It is my birthday as well!
Thank you, Siri! Wow. It’s amazing what a natural beauty Linda was. God, I idolized her when I was young. Did you know that Joni Mitchell said that she thought that Linda was the best female singer? This was in an interview from back in the late 70s.
@ Boston Green Eyes: Yes, she was beautiful in a very innocent way. I didn’t know that about Joni, but it shows what a different time that was…they could appreciate the qualities of other artists more easily.
And just for Molls;-) Happy Birthday!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrEqIpi6sg
Happy Birthday Green Eyes!
Thank you, everyone! I’m hoping this coming year is an excellent one for everyone!
Happy Birthday! 🎂
No way will people remember swift pr her songs in fifty years, in the way carly Simon is remembered. Swift is just flat pop. Simon and james Taylor are artists like so many of that era who are still around and playing music. Flat pop music has its niche and swift will be remembered but not like this. All of her so called blinds and relationship song are manufactured as PR at this point. Swift perry etc are corporate brands. Musicians in the 70s weren’t. Oh great live on Martha’s vineyard version of You’re so vain. It’s on youtube. Gotta love the triangle player dude.
Don’t forget Carole King and Tapestry,
And I agree with your comments.
Oh my God, Tapestry. My teenage heart was wringing constantly.
Carly, you’ve milked the damn song dry. Enough.
For real.
She looks amazing!
I don’t think anyone will remember Taylor Swifts songs in 50 years will they?
She looks amazing! She looks about half her age in this photo.
She was 61 in this picture (2007). This is from 2010:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01500/carly_1500600c.jpg
Sorry, What? Shirley McLean and Warren Beatty are brother and sister? Is that true? What the What?
It’s true. Born Beaty, Warren changed his name to Beatty when he became an actor.
Um, no, we knew in the 1970s that it was about Warren Beatty. Nothing new here. And I always loved that song. I think I have two or three Carly Simon albums (yes, albums! as in LPs).