What Happened: The Mystery of Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain'

Who exactly is the "you" that Carly sings about in "You're So Vain"? Charting at number 72 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time, Carly Simon's break-out hit from 1972 stirred a decades-long obsession by its fans. The lyrics describe a self-absorbed lover in a critical light, summed up in that famous line repeated in the chorus, "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you."

Purposefully maintaining the subject's mystery, Carly has dropped a trail of small clues throughout the 40-plus years since the song's release. One of the facts revealed over time is that the song was directed at not one, but three men, one for each of the song's three verses. The press have cited many candidates ¬– all since denounced by the singer-songwriter – including David Bowie, Cat Stevens and Mick Jagger, the latter having contributed uncredited but distinctive and recognizable backing vocals to the song.

In a 1983 interview, actor Warren Beatty came up as a strong possibility, having had a previous relationship with Carly. Warren claimed to believe the entire song was about him, and even called Carly to say, "Thanks for the song." Carly eventually confirmed in her 2015 memoir, Boys in the Trees, that Warren was the subject of the second verse only: "Oh, you had me years ago when I was still naïve..."

Actor/director Warren Beatty in 1990 – the topic of the second verse, confirmed

At a Martha's Vineyard charity auction in 2003, Carly agreed to disclose the name of the song's subject to the highest bidder, under the condition that the winner not reveal the name. NBC Sports' then-President Dick Ebersol, also a friend of Carly's, placed the highest bid at $50,000. She told him that he could publicly reveal another small clue: that the name of the person in question contains the letter "E." Eventually, Carly added two more clues, that the person's name contains the letters, "A", "E," and "R."

Play close attention at the 2:33 mark

Carly re-recorded the song in 2009 and unveiled the identity of the second man, in a cryptic backwards-and-forwards whisper two and a half minutes into the recording: "Daaavid." But David who? Bowie, Cassidy and Geffen were all suggested prospects, but it turned out none of them were the men in question. Apparently, Carly whispered "David," "Warren," and an unintelligible name in this newer recording; at least we know that "Warren" contains all three clue letters "A", "E," and "R."

As of now, the confirmed subjects are Warren Beatty, a mystery David, and another unnamed man. Maybe Carly Simon is messing with us, or simply asking her fans to leave it all open to interpretation. Who knows? If anything, the ambiguity and crumbs of clues she has given throughout the years made it certain that no one would stop talking about this timeless classic anytime soon.

ila Abdul-RaufLe is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Oakland, CA. A private guitar and voice teacher, Leila has also recorded and performed locally and internationally for two decades in countless music projects.

Promotional photo of Carly Simon by Elektra Records is in the public domain.

Warren Beatty by Gorup de Besanez is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.