When Carly Simon wrote the song “You’re So Vain,” her music career changed a lot. The song became really famous, but there was a big mystery about who she was singing about. Now, Carly herself has finally revealed who that person is.
In the 1970s, there was a lot of great music. Before that, bands like The Beatles became really popular, and in the ’70s, artists like Bob Dylan were making a mark. Carly Simon was one of those artists. She started becoming really popular in the early ’70s with her songs.
We all know and love songs like “You’re So Vain” from Carly Simon, but do we know much about her life? And most importantly, who was the mysterious person in “You’re So Vain”? This is the story of the amazing Carly Simon.
Carly Simon was born on June 25, 1945, in New York City. Her dad, Richard Simon, helped start the Simon & Schuster publishing company. But growing up wasn’t easy for Carly. Being the third daughter made her wonder if her parents truly wanted her.
“After two daughters he’d been counting on a son, a male successor to be named Carl. When I was born, he and Mommy simply added a y to the word, like an accusing chromosome: Carly,” she said.
When she was just 7 or 8 years old, Carly experienced a string of disturbing sexual encounters with a teenage boy.
“I didn’t realize that I was being used,” she said in an interview with USA Today. “I thought of myself as being in love with him. I’m sure a lot of girls go through the same thing.”
As a young girl, Carly got to see what the music industry was all about. But it would be some time before she would become the sensation she was.
Simon split her time between her family’s townhouse in Greenwich Village, New York and a wonderful estate in Stamford, Connecticut. The estate in Stamford saw the young girl surrounded by celebrities like Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Simon family were good friends with the famous baseball player, Jackie Robinson. When Robinson’s own house was being built, they stayed in Carly’s family’s home in Stamford. Carly became close to Robinson and even got to sit in the dugout at the old Ebbets Field, where the Brooklyn Dodgers played. She became like a team mascot.
Jackie Robinson taught Carly how to bat left-handed, but she admits it didn’t stick. Carly fondly remembers Robinson’s thoughtful expression when he spoke.
Unfortunately, the Simon family faced a tragedy when Carly’s father was forced out of his own company and passed away in 1960, just before Carly turned 16.
Carly always had a passion for music. She started singing with her brother Joey, who later became a successful writer. However, it was Carly and her sister who decided to pursue careers in the music business. They taught themselves guitar and hitchhiked to Provincetown, MA, in the summer of 1964.
Carly Simon and her sister Lucy, known as The Simon Sisters, performed at a local bar called The Moors. They sang folk songs and some of their own creations.
They got a record deal with Kapp Records and played in clubs in Greenwich Village. They even opened for comedians like Woody Allen and Dick Cavett, and performed in the UK. Carly remembers a boat trip back home where they met Sean Connery, spending the journey with the famous actor. Little did they know then that Carly would write a James Bond theme song 12 years later.
The sisters released three albums in the 1960s, but Lucy left the music scene after getting married.
Carly Simon was determined to make it in the music industry even though she was on her own. At first, her career didn’t take off quickly. She worked as a summer-camp counselor and as a secretary on a TV show.
In February 1971, she released her first album, “Carly Simon.” The song “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be,” which is about not wanting to get married, became a hit, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 list.
Later that year, in October, Simon released her second album, “Anticipation.” Things really started to pick up. The album went gold in two years, and the song “Anticipation” became a smash hit, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard pop singles chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in the United States.
Carly shared that she wrote the song in just 15 minutes while waiting for Cat Stevens, whom she was dating at the time and had cooked dinner for. When he arrived, the song was ready, but their date was short. She recalls that Stevens shared whispers and drawings of Blake poems, talked about his childhood and mixed Greek and Swedish parents, and they made a connection that has lasted.
After releasing two successful albums in just nine months, Carly Simon became a famous and loved singer and songwriter. In 1971, she won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of the Year and got nominated for “Best Pop Female Vocalist.”
In November 1972, Carly released her third album, “No Secrets.” It was meant to be a big breakthrough, and it indeed was. The album stayed at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart for five weeks and quickly went gold.
The album became a huge success worldwide, topping charts in countries like Norway, Australia, and Canada. But it was one particular song, the third track on the album, that changed Carly’s life forever.
“You’re So Vain” is the song most people think of when they hear Carly Simon’s name. It became a hit right away and has only grown in popularity over the years. It’s now ranked at No. 92 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All-Time list. In 2014, it was voted as the 216th best song of the century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That same year, the UK Official Charts Company crowned it as the ultimate song of the 1970s.
The album was made at the famous Trident Studios in London, where The Beatles recorded The White Album and David Bowie made Space Oddity.
The song “You’re So Vain” had a lot of interesting things when it came out, and it was a big mystery in the world of rock ‘n’ roll for many years. Let’s talk about that.
Firstly, Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones sang on the chorus of the song, but he didn’t get credit for it. When Carly Simon was recording, other famous people like Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, record producer George Martin, and Harry Nilsson were at the studio. Paul McCartney even helped with background vocals.
Then there’s Mick Jagger. Carly Simon mentioned in her memoir that he basically invited himself to the recording. Mick had been trying to get close to her in London and called the studio once he knew she was there.
“It was shortly after midnight. Mick and I, we were close together – the same height, same coloring, same lips,” Simon writes.
“I felt as if I was trying to stay within a pink gravity that was starting to loosen its silky grip on me. I was thrilled by the proximity, remembering all the times I had spent imitating him in front of my closet mirror.”
As mentioned, You’re So Vain was a rock ‘n’ roll mystery. It’s always fun to know the background story of a song, wether its about a certain event, a person, or if that one line is a reference for something special.
You’re So Vain – who is it about?
In Carly Simon’s case, no one knew who You’re So Vain was about.
Some guessed – and had conspiracy theories – that the song was about Mick Jagger. Sure, there was a pretty clear connection between the two, especially since he actually sang on the record.
But no, it turns out the rumours were wrong. The truth is that You’re So Vain – at least the second verse – is about one-time Hollywood lothario Warren Beatty, whom she dated briefly in the early 1970’s.
“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”.
In her memoir, Carly Simon shared that the song “You’re So Vain” was also about two other people, but she won’t say who they are. She mentioned, “I don’t think so, at least until they know it’s about them.”
Carly dated Warren Beatty for a short time in the ’70s and praised him as a “glorious specimen” who outshone other men in looks and charm.
Apart from Warren, Carly’s love life includes a marriage to singer/songwriter James Taylor. They had a brief meeting as kids and met again in her dressing room in 1971. Carly described Taylor as barefoot, with long legs and feet, wearing red corduroys and a loose shirt. His hair was shiny yet messy, and he had a subtle mustache, fashionable in the early ’70s. Even sprawled out on the floor, everything about him suggested that he was the center of something important.
Carly Simon and James Taylor began dating in the same year and got married in November 1972. However, after 11 years, they decided to get a divorce, and it wasn’t just because they didn’t love each other anymore.
Carly explained that drugs played a big part in their decision to separate. They have two children, who are now grown-up and working in the music business. Their daughter, Sally Taylor, is 46 years old, and their son, Ben Taylor, is 43.
Carly’s memoir, “Boys in the Trees,” mostly talks about her life up to her marriage with James Taylor. Her son hasn’t read the book, but her daughter has.
“I think he would feel more conflicted than Sally did,” Carly told ABC in 2016. “I had told her almost everything, but when she read it all together, she was just so amazed. She said, ‘I’m so proud of you for being able to tell it like it is for you.’”
Carly Simon went on to have other relationships after her divorce from James Taylor. She got engaged to musician Russ Kunkel in 1985 and later married writer James Hart in December 1987, but they divorced in 2007.
Now at 75 years old, Carly Simon has continued making music and winning awards. Her 1977 hit “Nobody Does It Better” became the theme song for the Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” and is considered one of the best Bond anthems.
In 1988, she released “Let The River Run,” featured in the movie “Working Girl.” With this song, she made history by winning an Academy Award, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe – three major awards for a single track.
In 1994, Carly was honored by being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Carly Simon’s life in the 1960s and 1970s was filled with happiness, and she has become a legendary singer with a lasting legacy.
Thank you, Carly, for the wonderful music, and we look forward to hearing more in the future! Feel free to share this story with your friends and family!