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 rumoured to be about one of her ex-boyfriends, which include Hollywood legend Warren Beatty and rocker Sir Mick Jagger, but she has 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 record 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.

