Two weeks ago, I was in Nashville viewing a total eclipse of the sun. Four days later, I was in a bar and the TV on the wall was showing live action from Saratoga Raceway. This altered my train of thought to the Carly Simon song.
To me, it’s no big deal, but a lot of people want to know the person who is the subject of the song. Somebody (allegedly) paid big bucks to have Carly tell him the answer. Since this person was sworn to secrecy, there’s no way to verify whether her story was a lot of hogwash.
As I was sitting there, it occurred to me that winning horses at Saratoga, total eclipses, and Lear Jets in Nova Scotia are not that common. Why hasn’t someone tried to put the story together to figure out who is the subject of the song?
There were two eclipses in Nova Scotia in the 8 years prior to the release of the song: 07-Mar-1970 and 10-Jul-1972. Since the song was released in November, 1972, it’s probably the latter, but I’m willing to keep an open mind.
“The title subject’s identity has long been a matter of speculation, with Simon stating that the song refers to three men, only one of whom she has named publicly, actor Warren Beatty.”
It was at a charity auction. NBC executive Dick Ebersol was the highest bidder, and Simon whispered the name(s) into his ear. To my knowledge, he’s never revealed it/them.
Dear God, you must be joking. It’s one of the most talked-about, speculation-riddled mysteries in the history of modern music. Article after article has been written about this, and yes, the “answer” if there is only one, was auctioned off recently.
Obviously she was pissed at some Starbuck barista who thought it was cute to make a steamed milk cloud puff design in her cuppa Joe when she asked for friggin’ black.
The Ukulele Lady made me go to a Shawn Colvin/James Taylor club date in Manhattan about six months ago. The 70-year-old son of a bitch is still gorgeous.
But mainly I envy him because he had his dick in Laura Nyro at one point. As close as he came to Musical Genius, unless you count holding Warren Zevon’s cock.