Carly Simon’s 1973 hit ‘You’re so Vain’

44 years ago today, ‘You’re So Vain’ became a hit! Check out who the song was about.
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Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain', (with Mick Jagger on backing vocals), started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart, after being released on November the previous year.The song is a critical profile of a self-absorbed lover about whom Simon asserts "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." The title subject's identity has long been a matter of speculation, with Simon stating that the song refers to three men.

Before the song became a hit single in 1972, Simon told an interviewer that the song was about "men," not a specific "man". Simon, who was like the Taylor Swift or Adele of 70s pop music, has previously dated a few popular celebrities.

 

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's me in the nearest thing I have to a pilgrim's hat...

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Back then, a lot of people wondered who the subject of the song was. Some speculated that it could be Mick Jagger who contributed uncredited backing vocals to the song. In a 1993 book Angela Bowie, David Bowie’s wife, claimed to be the "wife of a close friend" mentioned in "You're So Vain", and that Jagger, for a time, had been "obsessed" with her.

“Well, you're where you should be all the time
And when you're not, you're with some underworld spy.
Or the wife of a close friend.”

Carly Simon admitted that the song is not about Jagger. In a 2007 interview, actor and filmmaker Warren Beatty said, "Let's be honest. That song was about me.”. Simon in 1983 said Beatty "certainly thought it was about him — he called me and said thanks for the song...". Beatty briefly dated Simon back in the early 70s.

 

Warren ? You're welcome ? #WarrenBeatty #Vintage #BonnieAndClyde

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In November 2015, Simon revealed that the song makes references to three specific men. She also confirmed that one of those men was Warren Beatty. Warren’s name also fits the clues Simon gave out, claiming that the subject of the song has a name that contains the letters A, E, and R.

via GIPHY

So with Warren Beatty confirmed, two high-profile celebrities are still left to be found out. Shortly before the writing of the song, Simon was married to James Taylor; she has said that he was "definitely not" the subject of the song. David Bowie, David Cassidy and Cat Stevens have all been cited by the press as speculative candidates.

Who do you think could the two be?

 

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