8. Carly Simon - You're So Vain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13oJajXx0M Written by: Carly Simon; released in 1972. Who it's about: No one really knows. Simon's biting and critical anthem has been shrouded in mystery since its release, as the subject at whom the song is directed has remained unknown. Rather than clear up the matter, Simon has remained relatively quiet, though she did admit in 1989 that the subject of the song is a combination of several men, one of whom was actor Warren Beatty. However, rather than come clean about the other subjects, Simon has historically preferred to instead clarify who the song isn't about. So far, she has cleared the name of Mick Jagger, saying "nothing in the words referred to Mick." She has also stated that James Taylor, her ex-husband, is not the subject. Other speculated subjects are David Bowie, David Cassidy, Dan Armstrong, and Cat Stevens, but Simon has made no comment on the validity of these speculations. Another of her ex-husbands contended in 2005 that the subject is no one famous. Several public figures, including Howard Stern, Dick Ebersol, and Taylor Swift, claim that Simon revealed the identity of the song's subject to them, but they, too, have kept the truth secret. The only clue offered to the public are three letters of the subject's named, revealed by Simon across the past decade or so: E, A, and R.