Simon says

The list of songs that've managed the virtually impossible task of rhyming the words yacht, apricot and gavot is a very short one. In fact, there's only one.

The song is You're So Vain. And the songwriter is Carly Simon.

You'll be hearing a lot about both of them in the coming weeks, because Simon has a new memoir coming out. (Ironically, it's being published by Flatiron Books, and not Simon and Schuster, the publishing powerhouse Carly's father, Richard L. Simon, co-founded).

To be sure, Simon has led a colorful life that's included lovers from Mick Jagger to Warren Beatty. When she was married to James Taylor, they were at one point the richest entertainment power-couple with a heroin-addicted guitar-playing husband in all of Martha's Vineyard.

One thing Simon promises to address, sort of, in the book that has the entertainment press chomping at the bit (if you've seen Simon's smile you know why that last line is so funny) is one of the timeless mysteries of the music world: who exactly is You're So Vain about.

She's already said in past interviews one of the verses is about Warren Beatty. Beatty himself has said the whole song is about him. He's so vain. Which brings up a contradiction inherent in the song that's bothered me each and every time I've heard it.

The main lyric is "you're so vain, you probably think this song is about you...." Here's the thing: the song is about him. So is he so vain, or just right in what he's thinking? Discuss.

Admittedly it's not a mystery on the scale of say who shot JFK, or did we know about Pearl Harbor ahead of time. But I have to say I'm kind of curious. Maybe we'll find out, time will tell.

The one thing I know for sure is it's not about me.

As an only child, I have to say that hurts.

Sweet Baby James

I imagine every person on earth, or close to it, who has a son named James loves this song. Not that you need to have a kid to love it, but it only magnifies it.

Because I'm one of those people, I've heard many, many versions - both of James Taylor singing it and cover versions. This 1971 version from the Johnny Cash Show is my favorite. For starters, it was James Taylor's network television debut. And it's a powerful one, with just him, his guitar, his voice and one timeless song.

It's also a triumphant performance, with the audience jumping to their feet as if they were spring-loaded, and James Taylor walking off the stage to shouts of "More!"

Even though my son is named James, I never sang this song to him. Both he and his sister were sung to sleep with Springsteen's Thunder Road when they were babies (I know, I'm as shocked as you are).

Still, this is the song that just opens the floodgates thinking about my boy. It perfectly captures the love that all of us in the James Parents Club have for our boys.

The story is James Taylor wrote the song for his nephew who was named after him. He wanted it to be a cowboy lullaby, a buckaroo to bedtime melody.

That's his story, and he's sticking to it. But I know the truth.

He wrote it for my baby James.