Subject of the song
Despite these guesses and many interviews asking who it was, to this day Carly Simon has never publicly acknowledged in full whom the song is about. She commented in an interview that it was about "many vain men I've known in my life".
In a 1989 interview, Simon acknowledged that the song is a little bit about Beatty but said that the subject of the song is a composite of three men from her L.A. days. [1]
Simon made another comment about the subject's identity as a guest artist on Janet Jackson's 2001 single "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)", which sampled "You're So Vain". In the song, Simon says "The apricot scarf was worn by Nick/there's nothing in the words that refer to Mick".
Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports and a friend of Simon, was the highest bidder for a Martha's Vineyard Possible Dreams charity auction offering in which the prize was the revelation of the person whom "You're So Vain" was about. A condition of that prize is that Ebersol would not reveal to anyone the actual subject. Later, Ebersol revealed that he was allowed by Simon to divulge a clue about the person's name:
"Carly told me that I could offer up to the entire world, a clue as to what she'll tell me when we have this night in about two weeks. And the clue is: the letter 'E' is in the person's name."[2]
In 2004 Simon told Regis Philbin, "If I tell it, it's going to come out in dribs and drabs. And I've given out two letters already, an "A" and an "E". But I'm going to add one to it. I'm going to add an "R", in honor of you." (If Simon was not being flip, then of the above guesses, Jagger, Beatty, and Taylor would remain as potential candidates; Stevens, Kristofferson, and Donaldson are all missing one or more of the requisite letters.)
Shortly before the writing of the song, Simon was married to James Taylor. She later admitted that he was not the subject of the song. Several days after the identity of Watergate-era press source Deep Throat was revealed during the summer of 2005, a USA Today reporter asked Simon to name the subject of her song. Simon exclaimed with a laugh that it was "about Mark Felt!", who revealed himself as the legendary Watergate source. [3]
During a 2006 interview for the Sunday Life Magazine insert, Simon was asked what music she would pack for a long, presumably secluded vacation. Her response was that it would be something by The Rolling Stones; "I'd want something like 'Angie'." In Backstage Passes (1993), Angela Bowie claims to be the subject of the song "Angie" as well as the 'wife of a close friend' in "You're So Vain", that the two had been very close and Mick had, for a time, been 'obsessed' with her.
Recently, Beatty admitted that he in fact believes he is the subject of the song, saying: "Let's be honest. That song was about me." [4]
However, the speculation continues, with many fans considering it more of a general, rather than specific, indictment of vanity. Simon has yet to confirm Beatty's statement.
"You're So Vain" was voted #216 in RIAA's Songs of the Century.