# Carly Simon reveals "You're So Vain" inspiration **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536 "2010-02-26T17:38:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/21 "2010-02-26T19:25:04Z")
I guess she’s doing this to pump up sales of her new album, which is a little sad. And she’s said for so long that it’s about multiple people that this doesn’t make a lot of sense. > [@Zeldar](#): > > Now if we can just find who really shot JFK! I thought J.R. did it. EDIT: The guy who “bought” the name was Dick Ebersol of NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/22 "2010-02-26T20:24:14Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Or “You had me several years ago, when I was still quite naive” You know, this lyric _could_ be read as describing an artist/agent relationship. Now if only someone could tell me what “clouds in my coffee” means. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/23 "2010-02-26T20:30:43Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > … > Now if only someone could tell me what “clouds in my coffee” means. Somebody just didn’t stir the cream in. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/24 "2010-02-26T20:33:05Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > But David Geffen is gay. So how does that make sense with Carly accusing the subject of being with “the wife of your best friend, wife of your best friend?” According to BBC radio, he used to shag ladies, including Ms Simon, before he started batting for the other team. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/25 "2010-02-26T20:37:24Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Now if only someone could tell me what “clouds in my coffee” means. I like the common mishearing of “clowns in my coffee.” > [@Marley23](#): > > EDIT: The guy who “bought” the name was Dick Ebersol of NBC. Just to muddy the waters, [songfacts](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=536) has this: > [@](#): > > In 2003, Simon held an auction for a charity on Martha’s Vineyard where she offered to tell the high bidder who this song is about. The winning bidder was Dick Ebersol, the president of NBC Sports, who paid $50,000. Ebersol had to sign a confidentiality agreement, but was allowed to give one hint - the man’s name contains the letter “E.” Over the next few years, Simon further revealed that there is also an “A” and an “R” in the name. “Warren” and “Jagger” qualify; “David Geffen” does not, unless you count his middle name (Lawrence). ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/26 "2010-02-26T20:38:59Z")
She told Howard Stern (off-mic) during an appearance on his show about a year or 2 ago. I figured that meant she was getting close to being ready to talk. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/27 "2010-02-26T20:41:43Z")
I can’t find the news link now but earlier I saw the suggestion that excluding others due to various timings, CS saying the name had an R in it , and partly because he was reluctant to cut his long hair at the time it might be . David Crosby. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/28 "2010-02-26T21:00:24Z")
> [@Rrose\_Selavy](#): > > I can’t find the news link now but earlier I saw the suggestion that excluding others due to various timings, CS saying the name had an R in it , > and partly because he was reluctant to cut his long hair at the time it might be > . > > David Crosby. Except David Crosby’s name doesn’t have an E anywhere in it, even if you take his full name into account, David Van Courtlandt Crosby. And Ebersol dropped his hint before Ms. Simon revealed the letters R and A. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/29 "2010-02-26T21:04:59Z")
I dunno. I want to see some verification that Geffen did in fact own both a Lear jet and an apricot scarf during that time frame. Also, can Ms. Simon demonstrate that Geffen was indeed in Nova Scotia on [March 7, 1970](http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle1951/SE1970Mar07Tgoogle.html)? Can she produce copies of a hotel bill, fuel receipts—anything? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/30 "2010-02-26T21:33:49Z")
She’s lying. I’m pretty sure that the song was written with me in mind. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/31 "2010-02-26T21:48:12Z")
Geffen needs to send out a press release saying he always though the song was about him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/32 "2010-02-26T22:43:47Z")
[It sounds like her people are already walking this one back.](http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/02/26/carly-simon-david-geffen-youre-so-vain/) The new version of the song includes the word “David” spoken backward, but that’s only one name. > [@gazpacho](#): > > Geffen needs to send out a press release saying he always though the song was about him. His exact words should be “I always thought the song was probably about me.” The announcement’s interesting because I’d never heard anyone suggest the song had anything to do with Geffen. But I’m taking this with a grain of salt in that she’s trying to publicize her next album. Even if the David really is Geffen, in reality the song probably comes fiction, Geffen, Jagger, and Beatty. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/33 "2010-02-26T23:00:26Z")
And Joni Mitchell wrote “Free Man in Paris” about David Geffen. No wonder the SOB was so vain! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/34 "2010-02-27T00:53:33Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Except David Crosby’s name doesn’t have an E anywhere in it, even if you take his full name into account, David Van Courtlandt Crosby. And Ebersol dropped his hint before Ms. Simon revealed the letters R and A. …thus ending the world’s most expensive and long-lasting game of Hangman. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/35 "2010-02-27T01:23:52Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > I dunno. I want to see some verification that Geffen did in fact own both a Lear jet and an apricot scarf during that time frame. Right! Like everybody doesn’t, now or then! hh ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/36 "2010-02-27T01:57:48Z")
I recall a local radio station playing a cover version of that song after Kurt Cobain killed himself. It went: _Kurt Cobain, they’ll probably do an album without you…_ The refrain “Don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?” was replaced with “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” Yeah its in bad taste, but I always thought it was kinda funny, too. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/37 "2010-02-27T02:09:02Z")
I wonder how many “underworld spies” Geffen was with? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/38 "2010-02-27T02:26:37Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I wonder how many “underworld spies” Geffen was with? 🙂 Probably just as many as the wives of close friends. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/39 "2010-02-27T03:16:16Z")
WHO IS DAVID GEFFEN? Isn’t there a Geffen record label? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536/40 "2010-02-27T03:23:19Z")
The whole song makes NO SENSE after reading the explanation. The song is clearly about a failed relationship AND NOT someone upset they weren’t promoted! Even if it is suppose to be a metaphorical reference to poor record management, it sure shootin’ doesn’t work for me!!! :mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carly-simon-reveals-youre-so-vain-inspiration/530536.md?page=3)