Vindication

May 15, 2018

“From grace we fall, yeah, it’s all part of life.”

That’s where Vindication starts — not at the top, but at the fall. I lived in the dark, and the song is about what happens when you finally see the guiding light shining through it. “Shining through time and space, and no one can erase the power that you hold. You’re like a tidal wave, washing over my heart and soul.”

That’s the whole song in one image: a tidal wave. Not a gentle rain — a wave that washes over you and doesn’t let go.

The chorus is the promise I needed to hear, and the one I wanted to sing back:

“When it seems all hope is gone, I’ll just carry on. You shelter me with vindication. When times are tough, I’m never giving up. You shelter me with vindication.”

Vindication isn’t about being proven right. It’s about being sheltered — held — while you carry on. “Today will mark the start of a new life, and I trust in your word, no matter how hard the fight.” That’s the turn in the song: the fall is real, the dark is real, but the new life starts today, not someday.

The sound: disco rock fusion

Vindication didn’t start out as a disco rock fusion — it morphed into one. I wanted to try to do something different stylistically, but that’s the irony of songwriting: sometimes the song just ends up going in a direction on its own, and you just have to ride the wave. So I did. What came out was a four-on-the-floor disco groove with a rock spine, built for a room that moves. Harry Hess and I wrote it together, and Harry produced it. We cut it at Vespa Studio in 2018, and the band is the real thing: Pete Lesperance on guitar, Creighton Doane on drums, Pat Kilbride on bass, Harry on background vocals, and a nine-piece string section that lifts the whole track. When that chorus lands — “You shelter me with vindication” — it lands like the tidal wave in the lyric. Fitting, really. I rode the wave, and the wave is the song.

If you love the survival anthem of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” the disco pulse of Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” or the gospel-funk of Kirk Franklin’s “Love Theory,” this one will feel like home.

Colleen’s version

There’s a second life to this song. Colleen Allen — the Toronto saxophonist — took Vindication and turned it into a smooth jazz version, her sax carrying the lead where my vocal was. Same band underneath, same groove, but her horn gives it a completely different kind of warmth. It’s the same shelter, a different light through the window.

— Franklin

Vindication — written by Franklin McKay and Harry Hess. Produced by Harry Hess. Recorded at Vespa Studio, 2018. On the album Invincible. Featuring Colleen Allen (sax) on the smooth jazz version.

behind the music · franklin mckay