
Às vezes, as descobertas que mais mudam a vida estão escondidas no comum. Nesta compilação, famílias descobrem segredos deixados para trás por entes queridos, revelando verdades ocultas sobre ganância, amor e resiliência.
Muitas vezes achamos que sabemos tudo sobre nossos entes queridos, mas o que acontece quando eles deixam um segredo?
Essas histórias levarão você a uma jornada de descobertas surpreendentes, envolvendo o sofá gasto de uma avó, o colchão velho de um avô e até mesmo uma coleção de relógios. Esses itens aparentemente sem importância mudarão a vida das pessoas de maneiras inesperadas.

Uma mulher triste | Fonte: Pexels
1. ‘Tem alguma coisa dentro!’ Menino chora depois de sentar no sofá velho que a avó deixou tarde
Sentei-me no sofá surrado que a Vovó tinha me deixado. Os carregadores tinham acabado de deixá-lo, e ele caiu com um baque surdo.
A poeira encheu o ar enquanto eu passava meus dedos sobre uma mancha escura que eu lembrava de ter causado quando derramei suco anos atrás. Vovó não se importou com a mancha. Ela só se importou em encher minha bebida.
“Vou sentir sua falta, vovó”, sussurrei.

Um menino na casa do pai | Fonte: Midjourney
Ronny, meu pai, estava ali perto, com os braços cruzados.
“Por que lamentar por alguém que não lhe deixou nada além desse lixo?” ele zombou.
“Isso não é lixo. É uma lembrança dela”, eu disse firmemente. “Posso ganhar dinheiro algum dia, mas não posso criar mais lembranças com a Vovó.”
“A mesma vovó que te deu para outra família depois da morte da sua mãe, não é? Ela sempre quis te tirar de mim.”
Ele estava certo. A vovó me pediu para morar com outra família, mas isso é porque ela estava preocupada comigo.

Uma mulher mais velha cobrindo o rosto | Fonte: Pexels
“Mas essas pessoas não são ruins”, eu disse. “Eles me deixaram ficar aqui com você pelos próximos dias por causa do funeral da vovó.”
Papai zombou e se jogou na poltrona. Como sempre, ele não se importou com o que eu disse em defesa da vovó.
Suspirei e sentei no sofá, mas algo duro me atingiu.
“Tem alguma coisa lá dentro!”, exclamei.
Mas papai nem olhou para mim.

Um homem segurando um controle remoto | Fonte: Pexels
Curioso, removi a almofada do assento e encontrei um pedaço solto de tecido. Abaixo dele, havia uma pequena caixa lacrada com fita adesiva, com duas palavras rabiscadas.
Para Kevin.
Reconheci instantaneamente a letra da vovó. Minhas mãos tremiam quando a abri. Dentro havia um envelope lacrado e um maço de papéis. Abri o envelope e desdobrei a carta dentro.

Um close-up de uma carta | Fonte: Pexels
Querido Kevin,
Sinto muito por pressioná-lo enquanto você é tão jovem, mas seu bem-estar e seu futuro dependem de você fazer uma escolha inteligente agora. Você precisa saber que seu pai está de olho em sua parte da herança. Vou explicar tudo e então você deve decidir se ele é digno do seu amor.
Olhei para o papai enquanto a carta da vovó me lembrava do que aconteceu alguns meses atrás.

Um menino olhando para frente | Fonte: Midjourney
Alguns meses atrás…
Eu tinha acabado de voltar da escola quando vi a vovó parada na porta do nosso apartamento bagunçado que meu pai chamava de lar.
Ela estava discutindo com ele sobre o motivo de ele não ter me mandado para o clube de futebol.
“Eu te mando dinheiro todo mês para o clube de futebol dele!” ela disse. “O que você tem feito com isso?”

Uma mulher mais velha | Fonte: Pexels
Papai retrucou, mas o que quer que ele tenha dito deixou a vovó ainda mais brava. Ela estava super preocupada comigo e, algumas semanas depois, ela me disse que eu ficaria com a enfermeira dela, Denise.
Vovó disse que Denise e seu marido, Miguel, cuidariam bem de mim, e eu ainda poderia ver o papai. Ela me disse que eles estavam super felizes em me adotar.
E honestamente, o arranjo não era ruim. Denise e Miguel foram tão gentis comigo, e eu até comecei a frequentar um clube de futebol. Tudo estava indo bem, mas eu não tinha ideia de que Granny logo faleceria.

Um caixão | Fonte: Pexels
Tempo presente…
Voltei a me concentrar na carta da vovó.
…então eu criei um meio para você descobrir o verdadeiro caráter do seu pai.
Os papéis legais nesta caixa descrevem um acordo que permitirá que Ronny herde todo o meu dinheiro com uma condição: ele deve ficar longe de você. Dê-os a ele e veja o que ele faz.
Se ele destruir os papéis, então você saberá que seu pai valoriza você mais do que dinheiro, mas se ele os levar a um advogado… bem, você terá um lar seguro e amoroso com Denise e Miguel.

Um menino lendo uma carta | Fonte: Midjourney
Dobrei a carta e me virei para papai, que estava entretido assistindo ao seu programa favorito.
Será que eu deveria mesmo testá-lo?, pensei.
Respirando fundo, peguei os documentos e mostrei a ele.
“Pai, eu achei isso no sofá velho da vovó”, eu disse, entregando os documentos a ele. “Eu acho que eles são para você.”
Seus olhos brilharam enquanto ele os lia. Sem hesitar, ele pegou sua jaqueta e correu para a porta.
“Aonde você vai?”, perguntei, seguindo-o.

Um menino em pé na casa de seu pai | Fonte: Midjourney
“Fora. Coisa de gente grande. Fique aqui”, ele murmurou antes de correr pela rua. Eu o segui até que ele entrou em um prédio chique.
Meu coração apertou quando li a placa que dizia: “Escritório de Advocacia”.
Vovó estava certa. Papai se importava mais com dinheiro do que eu.
Voltei para o apartamento dele e bati na porta da nossa gentil vizinha, Tina. Não demorou muito para que ela abrisse.
“Oi, Tina”, eu disse. “Posso usar seu telefone?”

Uma mulher usando seu telefone | Fonte: Pexels
Uma hora depois, Denise e Miguel vieram me buscar. E agora, já faz três anos que isso aconteceu, e meus pais adotivos têm sido nada além de gentis comigo.
Tive muita sorte de ter uma avó como a Vovó, que só queria o melhor para mim.
2. Eu herdei os relógios antigos da vovó e meu irmão ganancioso ficou com a casa
Eu adorava minha avó, Marlene, mais do que tudo. Até um ano atrás, eu morava com ela, compartilhando sua casinha aconchegante cheia de sua coleção de relógios antigos e histórias. Ela era meu porto seguro e minha maior fã.
Mas no ano passado, tive que me mudar por causa da faculdade.
Uma noite, recebi uma ligação dela. Sua voz soava suave e frágil.

Uma mulher olhando para o seu telefone | Fonte: Pexels
“Linda, querida, você poderia vir aqui? Acho que não tenho muito tempo”, ela disse, quase num sussurro.
Meu coração afundou. “Oh, vovó, não fale assim! Vou pedir licença agora mesmo e estarei aí em alguns dias. Não se preocupe, ok?”
Quando cheguei na casa dela três dias depois, meu irmão Brian já estava lá. Ele era alguns anos mais velho que eu, com uma personalidade afiada.
Corri imediatamente para abraçá-la ao entrar em casa.
“Estou aqui, vovó”, sussurrei, sentindo uma dor no coração.

Uma mulher na casa da avó | Fonte: Midjourney
“Oh, minha doce menina”, ela sorriu, parecendo tão cansada, mas tão feliz.
Enquanto isso, Brian olhou ao redor com a testa franzida.
“Pelo menos você poderia ter mantido a casa limpa, vovó. Está tão… empoeirada”, ele murmurou, tirando uma partícula imaginária do ombro.
Oh, por favor, Brian!, pensei. Vovó precisa de cuidado, não de crítica.
Revirei os olhos e o ignorei porque não queria fazer cena na frente da vovó.
Poucos minutos depois, ela nos sentou em sua pequena sala de estar e entregou um envelope a cada um de nós.

Uma mulher mais velha segurando um envelope | Fonte: Pexels
Lá dentro havia US$ 5.000.
“Linda, Brian, eu queria dar algo a vocês dois”, ela disse, com a voz ligeiramente trêmula.
Peguei a mão dela. “Vovó, você não precisava fazer isso. Estou aqui para passar tempo com você, não por dinheiro.”
Brian, por outro lado, franziu o cenho. “É só isso que eu ganho? Sério?”
Antes que a avó pudesse responder, ele saiu furioso, batendo a porta atrás de si.
Ele é louco, pensei.

Uma mulher parada perto de uma porta | Fonte: Midjourney
Fiquei ao lado dela nos dias seguintes, limpando a casa, cozinhando refeições frescas e consertando as coisas. Ela estava vivendo de comida velha, e havia rachaduras e vazamentos que não eram consertados há anos.
“Você não precisa fazer tanto, Linda. Não quero tomar todo seu tempo e dinheiro”, ela disse, balançando a cabeça enquanto eu consertava um vazamento.
Eu sorri, segurando a mão dela. “Vovó, eu sei o quanto você sempre quis que a casa do vovô parecesse um lar novamente. Eu tinha algumas economias, então pensei, por que não? Você está feliz agora, vovó? É assim que você se lembra do vovô?”

Uma mulher conversando com sua avó | Fonte: Midjourney
“Oh, Linda”, ela sorriu enquanto lágrimas escorriam por suas bochechas. “Sim. Sim, é lindo. Obrigada.”
Então, numa manhã tranquila, eu a encontrei pacificamente dormindo. A casa parecia vazia sem sua risada e calor.
Enquanto isso, Brian nem sequer foi ao funeral. Isso me machucou profundamente, mas tentei me concentrar em honrar a memória dela.
Duas semanas depois, fomos chamados ao escritório do advogado para a leitura do testamento dela. Brian e eu ficamos sentados em silêncio enquanto o advogado começava.

Um advogado sentado em seu escritório | Fonte: Pexels
“Brian”, ele anunciou, “você foi deixado em casa.”
Brian sorriu, claramente satisfeito. Ele sempre tinha os olhos na casa.
Então, o advogado se virou para mim, sorrindo gentilmente. “Linda, sua avó deixou os relógios dela para você.”
“Os… relógios?”, perguntei, me sentindo um pouco desanimado.
Ele me entregou cinco relógios velhos e enferrujados, cada um com uma pátina fosca. Meu rosto ficou vermelho de vergonha enquanto Brian ria.
Mas então o advogado me entregou um envelope.

Um envelope sobre uma mesa | Fonte: Pexels
“Sua avó te amava mais do que ninguém, Linda”, ele disse suavemente.
Curiosa, abri o envelope. O bilhete dentro estava escrito na letra da vovó:
Linda, nunca subestime esses velhos relógios enferrujados!
Eles são relógios clássicos de 100 anos que pertenceram ao seu avô. Cada peça é feita de metal raro e requintado e vale cerca de US$ 40.000!
Cada um recebe o que realmente merece, minha querida. Fico feliz que você tenha recebido apenas o melhor.
Com todo meu amor, Vovó Marlene.
Meu coração disparou enquanto eu lia suas palavras.

Uma mulher lendo uma carta | Fonte: Midjourney
“Ela deixou quase US$ 200.000 escondidos nesses relógios aparentemente desgastados”, sorriu o advogado.
Olhei para os relógios enquanto lágrimas turvavam minha visão. Enquanto isso, Brian se levantou de seu assento.
“O quê? Essas coisas valem tanto assim?” ele perguntou, com o rosto pálido.
Eu sorri em meio às lágrimas. “Sim, Brian. A vovó sabia exatamente o que estava fazendo.”
Agarrei um dos relógios perto do meu peito e senti seu ritmo sincronizar com meu batimento cardíaco. Parecia quase como se a Vovó ainda estivesse comigo.
Obrigada, vovó , pensei enquanto saía do escritório com seus amados relógios. Obrigada por me dar um pedaço do seu coração para carregar para sempre.

Uma mulher sorrindo | Fonte: Midjourney
3. Avô proíbe qualquer um de tocar em seu colchão velho, menina encontra esconderijo lá após sua morte
Meu avô faleceu, e tudo o que ele me deixou em seu testamento foi uma casa velha. Agora que ele se foi, era tudo o que eu tinha dele. Senti falta dos dias em que ele estava aqui.
Esta casa guardava tantas memórias. Depois que meus pais morreram em um acidente de carro quando eu tinha apenas quatro anos, o vovô se tornou tudo para mim. Meu pai, minha mãe e meu melhor amigo. Ele me entendia como ninguém, e eu amava cada momento que passávamos juntos.

Uma mulher em sua casa | Fonte: Midjourney
Enquanto eu vagava pela casa silenciosa, perdido em memórias de infância, algo me ocorreu.
O colchão do vovô! Eu pensei.
Sempre me perguntei por que ele nunca deixava ninguém tocar nele.
“Não ouse, mocinha”, ele dizia com um sorriso travesso. “Tem segredos”
O que ele estava escondendo todos esses anos?
A curiosidade falou mais alto e levantei o colchão pesado.
Abaixo dele havia um envelope velho, um diário encadernado em couro, uma pilha de fotografias e alguns recortes de jornais amarelados.

Um jornal | Fonte: Unsplash
Meu coração disparou quando abri o envelope e folheei o conteúdo. As primeiras linhas do diário me paralisaram.
“Não posso deixar Brooke viver sua vida sem saber a verdade sobre seus pais”
Minha respiração ficou presa na garganta. Que verdade? Mergulhei mais fundo no diário, meus olhos examinando as páginas freneticamente.
O avô havia detalhado uma investigação sobre o suposto “acidente” dos meus pais. Ele acreditava que a morte deles não havia sido um acidente.
Suas anotações apontavam para um acobertamento envolvendo um motorista bêbado, o Sr. Johnson, e um policial corrupto, Parker, que o havia deixado escapar.

Close-up de um homem escrevendo em um diário | Fonte: Pexels
“Meu Deus!”, sussurrei.
Lágrimas quentes escorriam pelo meu rosto quando percebi o que tinha acontecido.
Meu avô passou anos descobrindo isso, e agora era minha vez de terminar o que ele começou.
Na manhã seguinte, marchei até o escritório do jornal local com as evidências em mãos. O editor, Frank, mal olhou para mim.

Pessoas em um escritório | Fonte: Unsplash
“Ouvimos todo tipo de histórias malucas”, ele disse desdenhosamente. “Tenho certeza de que você tem algo parecido.”
“Isso é algo totalmente diferente”, eu retruquei, espalhando as fotos e recortes em sua mesa. “Isso é sobre as mortes dos meus pais e um acobertamento envolvendo o departamento de polícia. Você está pronto para a verdade?”
Frank se inclinou para frente, seu ceticismo se transformando em intriga enquanto ele estudava as evidências.
“Isso é explosivo”, ele admitiu. “Mas você está pronto para o que isso trará? As pessoas virão atrás de você”

Um homem em seu escritório | Fonte: Pixabay
“Passei a vida inteira me perguntando por que meus pais morreram”, eu disse firmemente. “Agora que sei, não vou deixar ninguém me impedir”
Quando a história chegou à primeira página, a cidade explodiu. Protestos irromperam na delegacia de polícia e do lado de fora da mansão do Sr. Johnson. O caso foi reaberto, e o policial Parker cedeu sob interrogatório.
“Fomos pressionados pela família Johnson”, confessou. “Eles queriam que fosse enterrado”
Meses depois, o julgamento foi um circo midiático. Testemunhei, minha voz tremendo, mas determinada. O veredito do júri trouxe um alívio como eu nunca havia conhecido.

Uma mulher | Fonte: Midjourney
A justiça foi feita.
Visitei o túmulo do vovô alguns dias depois.
“Conseguimos, vovô”, sussurrei. “Obrigado por nunca desistir. Obrigado por tudo que você fez.”

Um close-up do rosto de uma mulher | Fonte: Midjourney
Este trabalho é inspirado em eventos e pessoas reais, mas foi ficcionalizado para fins criativos. Nomes, personagens e detalhes foram alterados para proteger a privacidade e melhorar a narrativa. Qualquer semelhança com pessoas reais, vivas ou mortas, ou eventos reais é mera coincidência e não intencional do autor.
O autor e a editora não fazem nenhuma reivindicação quanto à precisão dos eventos ou à representação dos personagens e não são responsáveis por nenhuma interpretação errônea. Esta história é fornecida “como está”, e quaisquer opiniões expressas são as dos personagens e não refletem as opiniões do autor ou da editora.
Carly Simon finally says who “You’re So Vain” is written about, confirms what we knew all along
With two successful albums in the span of only nine months, Simon soon found herself solidified as a famous and immensely popular singer/songwriter. In 1971, she received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of the Year, and additionally one nomination in the “Best Pop Female Vocalist” category.
Carly Simon – “You’re So Vain”
In November of 1972, Carly Simon released her third album, and it was intended to be her big commercial breakthrough. No Secrets spent five weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart and quickly achieved gold status.
It was a great album that spread all over the world, spending weeks and weeks on the top of the charts in countries like Norway, Australia and Canada. But it was one song in particular – the third on the album – that would change her life forever.
You’re So Vain was the song that most people reference when talking of Carly Simon. It was a smash-hit right away, and throughout the years, it’s grown even bigger and bigger.
The song is currently ranked at No. 92 on Billboard‘s Greatest Songs of All-Time list. In 2014, it was voted as number as no 216 when Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) asked the question of the best songs of the century. That same year, it was crowned as the ultimate song of the 1970’s by the UK Official Charts Company.

The album was recorded at the famous Trident Studios in London, England, where bands like The Beatles recorded The White Album and David Bowie made Space Oddity.
You’re So Vain – recording
You’re So Vain also held plenty of secrets when it was released, and for many years it was the subject of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest mysteries. But we’ll get to that soon.
Firstly, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is uncredited on the song, even though he sings on the chorus.
At the time of the recording, several other famous artists were at the Trident Studios, and the likes of Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, legendary record producer George Martin, and Harry Nilsson watched her record. Actually, McCartney himself pitched in to guest star with background vocals.
And then there was Mick Jagger. Carly Simon wrote in her memoir that he actually invited himself to the recording. Jagger had pursued her in London and called Trident Studios once he understood she was there.
“It was shortly after midnight. Mick and I, we were close together – the same height, same coloring, same lips,” Simon writes.
“I felt as if I was trying to stay within a pink gravity that was starting to loosen its silky grip on me. I was thrilled by the proximity, remembering all the times I had spent imitating him in front of my closet mirror.”

As mentioned, You’re So Vain was a rock ‘n’ roll mystery. It’s always fun to know the background story of a song, wether its about a certain event, a person, or if that one line is a reference for something special.
You’re So Vain – who is it about?
In Carly Simon’s case, no one knew who You’re So Vain was about.
Some guessed – and had conspiracy theories – that the song was about Mick Jagger. Sure, there was a pretty clear connection between the two, especially since he actually sang on the record.
But no, it turns out the rumours were wrong. The truth is that You’re So Vain – at least the second verse – is about one-time Hollywood lothario Warren Beatty, whom she dated briefly in the early 1970’s.
“You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive.
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair.
And that you would never leave.
But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me.
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee.
Clouds in my coffee”.
In her memoir, Carly revealed that the song was also about two other people, but she won’t reveal who they were.
“I don’t think so,” she told People. “At least until they know it’s about them.”
“Probably, if we were sitting over at dinner and I said: ‘remember that time you walked into the party and…’ I don’t know if I’ll do it. I never thought I would admit that it was more than one person.”

Simon dated Warren Beatty for a short while in the ’70s, and described him as a “glorious specimen” who put all other men “to shame, if looks and charm were what you were after.”
Carly Simon – James Taylor
So what about Carly Simon’s love life besides Warren? Well, she’s been married once, to singer/songwriter James Taylor.
They had met briefly as children, and then again in her dressing room in 1971. She described the latter meeting in her book. Taylor was there together with his then-girlfriend Joni Mitchell.
“He was barefoot, long-legged, long-footed – and is knees were bent,” she wrote in her memoir.
”He wore dark red, loose, wide-wale corduroys and a long-sleeved Henley with one button open, his right hand clutching a self-rule cigarette. His hair, simultaneously shiny and disheveled, fell evenly on both sides of his head, and he wore a scruffy, understated mustache, the kind so fashionable back in the yearly 1970s. He seemed both kempt and unkempt. Even sprawled out on the floor, everything about him communicated that he was, in fact, the center of something – the core of an apple, the center of a note.”

Carly Simon and James Taylor started dating later the same year and tied the knot in November of 1972. 11 years later, the couple divorced, but it wasn’t just because they didn’t have the same love for each other anymore.
Carly Simon – children
Simon explained that it mostly had to do with drugs. They had two children, now grown up and working in the music business. Daughter Sally Taylor is 46 years old and Ben Taylor’s 43.
Her memoir Boys in the Trees pretty much ends with her marriage to James Taylor. Her son hasn’t read the book. But her daughter has.
“I think he would feel more conflicted than Sally did,” Simon told ABC in 2016. “I had told her almost everything, but when she read it all together, she was just so amazed. She said, ‘I’m so proud of you for being able to tell it like it is for you.’”

Carly Simon was later engaged to musician Russ Kunkel in 1985. She married writer James Hart in December 1987, but the couple divorced in 2007.
Carly Simon, now 75 years of age, continued making music for many years to come. And, as a by-product, continued to win several awards for her trophy cabinet.
Her 1977 worldwide hit Nobody Does It Better was the theme song of the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. It’s considered by many to be one of the greatest Bond anthems of all time.
Hall of Fame entry
In 1988, she released the song Let The River Run, first featured in the 1988 movie Working Girl. With the song, she became the first singer ever to win three major awards for a single track: an Academy Award, a Grammy and a Golden Globe.
Six years later, in 1994, Carly was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Carly Simon lived a happy life during the 1960s and 1970s. She sure is a legendary singer with a legacy that will live on forever.
Thank you for all the wonderful music, Carly, and we hope to hear more in the future.
Please, share this story with friends and family!
When Carly Simon wrote the song You’re So Vain, her career changed forever, and yet the song remains one of rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest mysteries. Who is the person Simon is singing about?
Well, Carly herself has revealed who the classic song is about.
The 1970’s sure was a time for great music. During the 1960’s, bands like The Beatles had conquered the world, and now it was time for the likes of Bob Dylan and others to take over.
Carly Simon – singer/songwriter
One of those who did just that was Carly Simon. The wonderful singer/songwriter became one of the most popular artists when her career began to grow in the early 1970’s.
We’ve all heard You’re so Vain and various other classics from the New Yorker. But what about her life? And who was You’re so Vain actually about? This is the story of the wonderful Carly Simon.
Carly Simon was born on June 25, 1945, in New York City, the youngest daughter of an upper-class New York family. Her father Richard Simon was the co-founder of the Simon & Schuster publishing company.
Carly Simon – childhood
Now, Carly’s childhood wasn’t exactly perfect. As a third daughter, she often felt inadequate. Did her parents really want her?
“After two daughters he’d been counting on a son, a male successor to be named Carl. When I was born, he and Mommy simply added a y to the word, like an accusing chromosome: Carly,” she said.
When she was just 7 or 8 years old, Carly experienced a string of disturbing sexual encounters with a teenage boy.
“I didn’t realize that I was being used,” she said in an interview with USA Today. “I thought of myself as being in love with him. I’m sure a lot of girls go through the same thing.”
As a young girl, Carly got to see what the music industry was all about. But it would be some time before she would become the sensation she was.
Simon split her time between her family’s townhouse in Greenwich Village, New York and a wonderful estate in Stamford, Connecticut. The estate in Stamford saw the young girl surrounded by celebrities like Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Simon family were also good friends of legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who soon would take Carly under his wing. Jackie Robinson and his family lived in the Stamford house while their own home was under construction.
Befriended Jackie Robinson
She got to sit in the dugout at the old Ebbets Field in Brooklyn – home of the then-Brooklyn Dodgers. Soon, she became the unofficial mascot of the team.
“Jackie even taught me how to bat lefty, though it never took”, Simon wrote in her memoir Boys in the Trees (2015).
“He always had the cutest look around the side of his mouth, as if he were thinking about what he was about to say before he said it.”
However, the family would go through a tragedy. Simon’s father was strong-armed out of his own company, and died in 1960, just before his daughter’s 16th birthday.
For her part, Carly showed an early interest in music. She started singing together with brother Joey – who later became a successful writer, writing the music for the Broadway show The Secret Garden – but later, it was her and her sister who would go on to pursue a career in the business.
As Carly wrote on her website, she and sister Lucy taught themselves three chords on the guitar and hitch-hiked up to Provincetown, MA in the summer of 1964.

The Simon Sisters – as they called themselves – sang at a local bar called The Moors, with a repertoar consisting of folk music, as well as some of their own songs.
Touring with sister Lucy
Carly Simon and Lucy were eventually signed to Kapp Records and played a couple of clubs in Greenwich Village, opening for early comedians Woody Allen and Dick Cavett, among others, and even played in the UK.
In her memoir, Simon recalls the boat trip across the Atlantic heading home.
They were on the same boat as Sean Connery, and Carly and her sister ended up spending the trip with the actor. At that point, of course, no one could realize or even imagine that Carly would write a Bond theme song 12 years later.
The sister duo released three albums in the 1960s before Lucy left to get married.

Carly Simon was on her own, but still determined to forge a career in the music industry. However, her career had a slow start. She started working as a summer-camp counselor and as a secretary on a TV show.
Carly’s career
In February of 1971, Simon released her debut album Carly Simon. The song That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be – an anti-marriage-song – became her first hit, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 list.
In October, later the same year, Simon released her second album, Anticipation. By now, things had really started to blow up. Her album went gold in two years and contained the smash hit Anticipation, which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard pop singles chart and also at No. 3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in the United States.
According to herself, Simon wrote the song in just 15 minutes while waiting for Cat Stevens at her place, whom she was dating at the time and had made dinner for. When he arrived, the song was ready, but the date only lasted a short while.
“He gave me whispers and drawings of Blake poems,” Carly Simon said. “He told me about his childhood, his mixed Greek and Swedish parents, and we made a connection that has lasted.”
With two successful albums in the span of only nine months, Simon soon found herself solidified as a famous and immensely popular singer/songwriter. In 1971, she received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of the Year, and additionally one nomination in the “Best Pop Female Vocalist” category.
Carly Simon – “You’re So Vain”
In November of 1972, Carly Simon released her third album, and it was intended to be her big commercial breakthrough. No Secrets spent five weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart and quickly achieved gold status.
It was a great album that spread all over the world, spending weeks and weeks on the top of the charts in countries like Norway, Australia and Canada. But it was one song in particular – the third on the album – that would change her life forever.
You’re So Vain was the song that most people reference when talking of Carly Simon. It was a smash-hit right away, and throughout the years, it’s grown even bigger and bigger.
The song is currently ranked at No. 92 on Billboard‘s Greatest Songs of All-Time list. In 2014, it was voted as number as no 216 when Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) asked the question of the best songs of the century. That same year, it was crowned as the ultimate song of the 1970’s by the UK Official Charts Company.

The album was recorded at the famous Trident Studios in London, England, where bands like The Beatles recorded The White Album and David Bowie made Space Oddity.
You’re So Vain – recording
You’re So Vain also held plenty of secrets when it was released, and for many years it was the subject of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest mysteries. But we’ll get to that soon.
Firstly, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is uncredited on the song, even though he sings on the chorus.
At the time of the recording, several other famous artists were at the Trident Studios, and the likes of Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, legendary record producer George Martin, and Harry Nilsson watched her record. Actually, McCartney himself pitched in to guest star with background vocals.
And then there was Mick Jagger. Carly Simon wrote in her memoir that he actually invited himself to the recording. Jagger had pursued her in London and called Trident Studios once he understood she was there.
“It was shortly after midnight. Mick and I, we were close together – the same height, same coloring, same lips,” Simon writes.
“I felt as if I was trying to stay within a pink gravity that was starting to loosen its silky grip on me. I was thrilled by the proximity, remembering all the times I had spent imitating him in front of my closet mirror.”

As mentioned, You’re So Vain was a rock ‘n’ roll mystery. It’s always fun to know the background story of a song, wether its about a certain event, a person, or if that one line is a reference for something special.
You’re So Vain – who is it about?
In Carly Simon’s case, no one knew who You’re So Vain was about.
Some guessed – and had conspiracy theories – that the song was about Mick Jagger. Sure, there was a pretty clear connection between the two, especially since he actually sang on the record.
But no, it turns out the rumours were wrong. The truth is that You’re So Vain – at least the second verse – is about one-time Hollywood lothario Warren Beatty, whom she dated briefly in the early 1970’s.
“You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive.
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair.
And that you would never leave.
But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me.
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee.
Clouds in my coffee”.
In her memoir, Carly revealed that the song was also about two other people, but she won’t reveal who they were.
“I don’t think so,” she told People. “At least until they know it’s about them.”
“Probably, if we were sitting over at dinner and I said: ‘remember that time you walked into the party and…’ I don’t know if I’ll do it. I never thought I would admit that it was more than one person.”

Simon dated Warren Beatty for a short while in the ’70s, and described him as a “glorious specimen” who put all other men “to shame, if looks and charm were what you were after.”
Carly Simon – James Taylor
So what about Carly Simon’s love life besides Warren? Well, she’s been married once, to singer/songwriter James Taylor.
They had met briefly as children, and then again in her dressing room in 1971. She described the latter meeting in her book. Taylor was there together with his then-girlfriend Joni Mitchell.
“He was barefoot, long-legged, long-footed – and is knees were bent,” she wrote in her memoir.
”He wore dark red, loose, wide-wale corduroys and a long-sleeved Henley with one button open, his right hand clutching a self-rule cigarette. His hair, simultaneously shiny and disheveled, fell evenly on both sides of his head, and he wore a scruffy, understated mustache, the kind so fashionable back in the yearly 1970s. He seemed both kempt and unkempt. Even sprawled out on the floor, everything about him communicated that he was, in fact, the center of something – the core of an apple, the center of a note.”

Carly Simon and James Taylor started dating later the same year and tied the knot in November of 1972. 11 years later, the couple divorced, but it wasn’t just because they didn’t have the same love for each other anymore.
Carly Simon – children
Simon explained that it mostly had to do with drugs. They had two children, now grown up and working in the music business. Daughter Sally Taylor is 46 years old and Ben Taylor’s 43.
Her memoir Boys in the Trees pretty much ends with her marriage to James Taylor. Her son hasn’t read the book. But her daughter has.
“I think he would feel more conflicted than Sally did,” Simon told ABC in 2016. “I had told her almost everything, but when she read it all together, she was just so amazed. She said, ‘I’m so proud of you for being able to tell it like it is for you.’”

Carly Simon was later engaged to musician Russ Kunkel in 1985. She married writer James Hart in December 1987, but the couple divorced in 2007.
Carly Simon, now 75 years of age, continued making music for many years to come. And, as a by-product, continued to win several awards for her trophy cabinet.
Her 1977 worldwide hit Nobody Does It Better was the theme song of the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. It’s considered by many to be one of the greatest Bond anthems of all time.
Hall of Fame entry
In 1988, she released the song Let The River Run, first featured in the 1988 movie Working Girl. With the song, she became the first singer ever to win three major awards for a single track: an Academy Award, a Grammy and a Golden Globe.
Six years later, in 1994, Carly was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Carly Simon lived a happy life during the 1960s and 1970s. She sure is a legendary singer with a legacy that will live on forever.
Thank you for all the wonderful music, Carly, and we hope to hear more in the future.
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