Warren Beatty is no longer just a cloud in her coffee – he is also a confirmed subject of Carly Simon’s 1972 hit single “You’re So Vain.” Ever since the song’s release fans have speculated over which of her notoriously self-involved paramours Simon was lampooning, and the singer has just revealed to People magazine that at least one of the verses is about Beatty, whom Simon dated in the early ‘70s.
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For years Simon has been teasing the public with clues about the song’s subject, including in 2004 when she told Regis Philbin that the man’s name contained the letters “A,” “E” and “R.” That left Beatty, but also some of Simon’s other exes like Mick Jagger and James Taylor, to whom she was married for 11 years.
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Proving her point, Beatty has long maintained that the song is definitely about him. Simon tells People, “I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren,” adding, “Warren thinks the whole thing is about him!” The verse she’s referring to goes as follows:
You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and…
Simon spoke to People in advance of her forthcoming memoir, Boys in the Trees, out later this month. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like any more “Vain” names will be revealed in those pages. When People asked Simon if she will ever divulge who the other verses are about, she said, “I don’t think so, at least until they know it’s about them.”
But if the song has it right, they probably already think they do.