Simon's target revealed

The inspiration behind 'You're So Vain' song has been named...

15:00 26 February 2010

The inspiration behind Carly Simon's chart topper has been a mystery for 38 years, but the singer has lets slip a clue about who it is that's "so vain", as the song goes.

In a release of her greatest hits album 'Never been Gone', Simon has reworked the 1972 classic 'You're So Vain' to include a cryptic clue to the subject's identity.

During a musical interlude around two-and-a-half minutes into the track, she whispers the name backwards – "David".

Simon has confirmed that it is a reference to the man whose identity many have speculated about.

In an interview with Uncut magazine, when asked about pop music's great mystery, she said: "I'm just going to tell you this, the answer is on the new version of 'You're So Vain'.

"There’s a little whisper – and it's the answer to the puzzle."

The revelation discount former candidates and boyfriends, who many believed were the target of the insults, Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens, Kris Kristofferson or Warren Beatty.

A 1983 interview with Simon revealed that Warren Beatty was so convinced the lyrics were about him that he called her to say "Thanks for the song".

Several Davids have been put forward as possibilities: David Cassidy, who rose to fame with The Partridge Family; David Bowie; and David Crosby, who lived in Los Angeles at the same time as Simon.

However, many believe it is David Geffen, who was at the head of the Elektra record label.

Simon is thought to have resented the time the gay producer spent to promote her rival Joni Mitchell.

A spokesman for her record company said: "That is all I know.

"After 38 years, we will never get a direct answer from Carly."