Is the subject of Carly Simon’s song “You’re So Vain” really record mogul David Geffen?
Some creative putting of two and two together led Britain’s The Sun newspaper to declare on Friday that entertainment mogul Geffen — who made his fortune in music and co-founded the Dreamworks movie studio — is the man who “walked into the party, like he was walking onto a yacht” , almost 40 years ago.
Simon, who has kept the name a secret, sparked the guessing game by telling Britain’s Uncut music magazine in its new issue that she whispers a name at the end of her new version of the song “and it’s the answer to the puzzle” of the mystery man that for years Simon has refused to divulge.
Uncut editor Allan Jones told Reuters that the name did indeed appear to be David.
But how The Sun came up with Geffen, who came out publicly as gay in the 1980s, seems to have involved some guess work.
The usual suspects have includes Simon’s first husband James Taylor, or actor Warren Beatty, singer Cat Stevens, Mick Jagger or Kris Kristofferson. In hints over the years, Simon has said the name contains a A, an E and an R. But where’s the “R” in David Geffen? Apparently, his middle name is Lawrence, and he had a romance with singer Cher in the 1970s before coming out.
Geffen was head of Simon’s Elektra record label around the time of her 1972 song, and The Sun speculated that Simon is thought to have resented the effort he put into promoting Joni Mitchell at the time, rather than any failed relationship.
As for Simon, she could not be reached for comment on Friday. Neither could Geffen.
