I remember when I was younger. There was nothing like sitting around with the guys, eating bacon sandwiches and playing every record we could backwards. Always hoping for some Satanic verse and more often than not just ending up with a scratched record that was no longer playable. I don't know what we expected, but we had heard so many cool things happened when you did it, yet nothing ever did. Well, it turns out we were looking at all the wrong kinds of albums. Instead of Black Sabbath records we should have been putting on Carly Simon. It seems that Carly Simon left a clue as to who You're So Vain is about. I had always thought it was James Taylor or Warren Beatty. Nope. It turns out it might be David Geffen who was the head of Carly's label at the time and has been called vain and a bunch of other words in his life. If you play the song backwards, there appears to be a voice that says David twice. I will let you listen. It is also sure to give you goosebumps and make you think of Sixth Sense. Click here and make sure you listen to all 37 seconds.
That is so fucking creepy!!
ReplyDeleteHer fame has waned and this is the only thing people were ever really interested in knowing.
ReplyDeleteShe is smart to reveal it to get interest in her again. She has a greatest hits album coming out next week.
IF that is a true reveal or just another concotion of hearing what you want to hear playing something backwards.
Carly has not publicly admitted it to being David. Just the tabloids running with it.
Ewww that's not right.
ReplyDeleteI should not have listened to that while I was alone.
ReplyDeleteThat was really creepy....now does anyone actually own the record so we can confirm that this is on the original recording?
ReplyDeleteWheeeewwwww!
ReplyDelete*shivers and shudders*
That was creepy as hell.
So um...David Geffen - he's fully out of the closet. Did he do Carly because she looks like Mick Jagger?
ReplyDeletedidn't somebody bid on finding the name awhile back for charity or something?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but that whole playing records backwards deal is really f'n ing stupid. AND it is another clue (in my mind) that enty was a teen in the 70's early 80's. Or should I say, someone on Team Enty was....
ReplyDeleteI love Carly Simon btw so I'm glad to hear that she has a new CD. But I don't believe that is her saying that creepy 'David'.
Warren Beatty is PISSED TODAY! We are still have the dream that it is Warren, and not Batshit Crazy Fagola Geffen.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia (and we know how accurate it is) now says it is Geffen:
ReplyDeleteOn Feb 26, 2010 Mark and Brian [KLOS LA morning show hosts] said according to a rather creepy backwards-whispered "David" -- as incorporated into a re-recorded version of the 1972 hit on her latest album 'Never Been Gone', released in the UK next week (March 2010) -- it's Simon's former Elektra boss David Geffen. Supposedly, the singer resented the record exec for the attention he lavished on Elektra/Asylum label-mate Joni Mitchell.
Dick Ebersol won the auction that revealed the identity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_So_Vain
From Carly's webpage about the mystery man (if she's not kidding around, it would eliminate Geffen):
ReplyDeleteCNN - People In The News - 2004
Paula Zahn : Long ago, you once admitted that it could potentially be a composite of a number of men that were dear to you in your life. Whether that be Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty or maybe even a little bit of James Taylor in there?
Carly: Well, I guess for those who are interested in clues - the name of the person it was about had an "E" in it.
PZ: Oh, well thank you...that's very helpful Carly. That could be Mick, Warren or James. We still have the same three in the pot.
Carly: Maybe I could disclose another letter. OK, it also has an "A".
PZ: (Laughter) Ok, we'll be asking you about this for the next thirty years.
Carly: Well listen, two vowels ain't bad!
Regis & Kelly - 2004
Regis : Isnt' it time for you to tell the world - who's the guy you're singing about? Is it Warren Beatty? Is it Mick Jagger? Or is it me? Tell us!
Carly: If I tell it, it's going to come out in dribs and drabs. And I've given out two letters already, and "A" and an "E". But I'm going to add one to it. I'm going to add an "R", in honor of you.
"R"???? Must be Warren.
ReplyDeleteJeez - can we refrain from using the word "fagola"? It made me cringe.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/02/david-geffen-was-right-in-thinking-this-song-was-about-him.html
ReplyDeleteA couple facts from someone old enough to remember.
- Geffen dated women back in the day. (Remember his relationship with Cher?) Whether he was out to the industry is not clear to me as I was a teenager and we didn't have sites like CDAN to keep track of who was bearding. The public didn't know he was gay until much later.
- According to the Vanity Fair article, though, this is about a professional conflict in that Geffen promoted and developed Joni Mitchell over Carly. Joni and Carly were INTENSE rivals back then, Joni had an affair with James and was considered the critical darling of the set.
- The recording at the Sun that ENT directs us to is not the original recording. Late last year, Carly released an album called Never Been Gone which is an an acoustic rearrangement of her hits.
God, I'm old.
Wasn't David Bowie a contender at the time?
ReplyDeleteCreepy!!!
ReplyDeleteAll I hear is "Cranberry Sauce".
ReplyDeleteCarly has confirmed that it's David Geffen and that she did do the whisper. The song is on her new album.
ReplyDeletehttp://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=485058
yea but where does the R come in then? or was she kidding about that?
ReplyDeleteOh, she's good. If their name includes the letters A, E and R, it could be Mick, Warren or James based on their full names. So she gave nothing away. Smart girl.
ReplyDeleteWow. Wow. Wow.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, when I listened to that my skin crawled and I screamed "Oh My God." haha. She could have whispered "I like unicorns" and it would have freaked me out!
Secondly, I have been wondering about this ever since I bought my first Carly Simon album, so THANK YOU Enty for posting it today!!!
This is like when they solved the mysteries on Unsolved Mysteries. Creepy but yet you feel fulfilled for knowing the ending. :)
How very Taylor Swift.
ReplyDeleteto those above asking about the R.
ReplyDeleteDavid LawRence Geffen is his full name.
A,E,R
She was on Howard Stern in 2008 and she in a private room off mic told him who it was. She said when people find out it will be a let down. Howard never said who it was.
But I think we can file this one in solved. If you read the lyrics in a diffrent light it makes more sense.
Does anyone else remember when Cher dated David Geffen? Yes, it's true I began reading gossip at birth. It's sad really, lol!
ReplyDeleteI do not think she has totally confirmed this. My heart is still set on Warren Beatty. sigh.
ReplyDeletei had heard geffen's name come up many times over the years. fits to me. the song is about a very arrogant person---it's not about her being involved with that person.
ReplyDeletethe story about jealousy over joni mitchell makes total sense to me.
It's her friend Ben that inspired some of it. The two main men are Warren Beatty and David Cassidy.
ReplyDelete