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.
I thought J.R. did it.
EDIT: The guy who “bought” the name was Dick Ebersol of NBC.
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.
Somebody just didn’t stir the cream in. 
According to BBC radio, he used to shag ladies, including Ms Simon, before he started batting for the other team.
I like the common mishearing of “clowns in my coffee.”
Just to muddy the waters, songfacts has this:
“Warren” and “Jagger” qualify; “David Geffen” does not, unless you count his middle name (Lawrence).
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.
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.
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? Can she produce copies of a hotel bill, fuel receipts—anything?
She’s lying. I’m pretty sure that the song was written with me in mind.
Geffen needs to send out a press release saying he always though the song was about him.
It sounds like her people are already walking this one back. The new version of the song includes the word “David” spoken backward, but that’s only one name.
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.
And Joni Mitchell wrote “Free Man in Paris” about David Geffen. No wonder the SOB was so vain!
…thus ending the world’s most expensive and long-lasting game of Hangman.
Right! Like everybody doesn’t, now or then!
hh
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.
I wonder how many “underworld spies” Geffen was with? 
Probably just as many as the wives of close friends.
WHO IS DAVID GEFFEN? Isn’t there a Geffen record label?
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: