You probably think this story’s about…
For more than 30 years, one of America’s best-kept secrets has remained a pop culture mystery. No, not Deep Throat. We’re talking about Carly Simon and her hit song You’re So Vain. Who was she singing about?
“It’s about Mark Felt!” Simon, 59, joked by phone Wednesday from her home in Martha’s Vineyard, referring to the former FBI official who has said he was Deep Throat.
Vain was a No. 1 hit in January 1973, six months after the Watergate break-in that led to President Nixon’s downfall.
But unlike the Watergate principals, Simon says she’ll never reveal the answer, not even when she or the song’s subject dies. “I don’t see why I ever would. What would it advance?
“I wrote that song in the days when people kept confidences to themselves, whereas now, people expose them so easily and readily for the benefit of their next movie sale.”
Officially, only three people know: Simon, the ex-lover and NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol, who paid $50,000 for the answer at a charity auction. (He was sworn to secrecy.)
Over the years, Simon has dropped a few hints: The man’s name contains the letters A, E, and R, suggesting Warren Beatty and Mick Jagger, who sings background vocals on the track. But she won’t confirm that the song is about one partner or a compilation of men.
“It’s almost beside the point whether or not we find out who she was writing about because it’s a really good song,” says Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly senior editor.
Some things are best left unanswered, says Paul Aron, author of Unsolved Mysteries of American History. “What would we all write about if these things could be answered?
Simon has long since moved on. She’s been married since 1987 to writer James Hart. She conquered breast cancer. Her new standards album, Moonlight Serenade, is out July 19.
She finds it “bizarre” that fans are still speculating about her lyrics three decades later. “If people knew who it was to begin with, it might not have become a hit.”
Here Are Some Other Pop Culture Mysteries
1. Why did Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorce after 10 years of marriage?
2. Who is the father of Jodie Foster’s two sons, or for that matter √≥ who is the mother of Michael Jackson’s youngest son?
3. Where are Jimmy Hoffa and Amelia Earhart?
4. Who broke Alanis Morissette’s heart to inspire You Oughta Know?
5. What led Paris Hilton to ditch best friend Nicole Richie?
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