the buzz log

So singer-songwriter Carly Simon has finally let out her deep, dark, secret. Sort of. (More on that later.) According to a UK tabloid, the mysterious figure who is the center of her song "You're So Vain" is not ex-boyfriend Warren Beatty. Nor former flames (and, we assume vanity-hogs) Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens, or Kris Kristofferson. In fact, the vain guy wasn't a lover at all.

The 64-year-old revealed the top-secret name in her new album "Never Been Gone." In a whisper. Recorded backwards. Shhh. Don't worry, Carly. Your secret's safe with us. OK, it's not. It's David Geffen. The heck? The gay media mogul happens to be vain? And in other news, rain is wet. Really, we waited almost 40 years for this?

Yes, we did. And we really wanted to know. Carly Simon fans heated up the search box with a 900% increase on "carly simon you're so vain lyrics" in the last week alone. Yahoo! queries on "carly simon," "carly simon biography," and "carly simon songs," also bumped up. Note to 70s songsters: Embedding a secret codeword into your new album Beatles-style is one way to get buzz around a song that hasn't been hot since the Nixon administration.
Find other music by 70s musicians.

Still, this theory is not water-tight, since Simon doesn't actually say the producer's last name. (And in the past Simon has said it's a composite of many men she's known.) However, insiders think Geffen is a good guess. At the time of Simon's early recording career, way back in 1972, the recording king headed Elektra Records, which produced her "No Secrets" album. Guess that's one way to show distaste for your producer's style, even if it's not the juicy back story we were hoping for.

Still, whoever he is, the vain guy sure did inspire a good tune.