Carly Simon released the hit song “You’re So Vain” about a self-absorbed lover in November of 1972, leaving fans to wonder for more than four decades who it could be about.
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In “You’re So Vain”, Carly Simon sings, “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you”. Beatty was long rumored to be the subject of the 1972 hit, and with his stats…it kinda figures.
Simon maintains that the song is also about two other men, but she’s staying tight-lipped about their identities, “at least until they know it’s about them”. But he’s so vain, he thought he was in there more.
Despite Simon’s explanation that only a small part of the song refers to Beatty, she said, “Warren thinks the whole thing is about him!” Well, if you’re Warren Beatty, at least a few of it is.
Simon’s revelation comes right before the release of her book, Boys in Trees which is due out November 24.
The second verse in particular, she said, directly references her relationship with the Hollywood star. Still others thought the songs was about actor Warren Beatty.
“I don’t think so”, she told People.
Simon told People she was struck by the enduring interest in the song’s inspiration.
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“Why do they want to know?” she asks. As far as who the other verses in the song are about, she’s not saying – yet. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for “You’re So Vain” in 2004, and awarded the ASCAP Founders Award in 2012.
