What does Vindicated mean?

Dashboard Confessional: Vindicated Meaning

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Album cover for Vindicated album cover

Vindicated Lyrics

Hope dangles on a string
Like slow spinning redemption
Winding in and winding out
The shine of it has caught my eye

And roped me in
So, mesmerizing and so hypnotizing,
I am captivated, I am

{Chorus}
Vindicated
I am selfish
I am...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 21st 2008 !⃝

    I read that Chris Carraba wrote Vindicated for the Spiderman 2 soundtrack (hence it wasn't released on a DC album). The song is about Peter Parker's struggle throughout the movie, and the part about the diamond in the ring references how Mary Jane got engaged to the other guy in the movie. Great love song about making positive changes to get a second chance with the one you love!

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    Carly
    click a star to vote
    Jun 18th 2006 !⃝

    This song is about how a boy hoping for someting good to come along. He's regretful of screwing things up with this gril he's in love with and sees that he had a chance but didn't take it and should have at least tried. He thinks of himself as sick and being wrong and right at the same time. Being wrong about the gril not liking him but right about taking a chance. He's trying to clean up for her but live his life because if he does he can get another chance and still be able to live his life. He's seeing the things that hte girl saw and didn't want to be bothered with a changing. He motivates himself to being with her. Then he kisses her and he doesn't want the momenet to ever end and finally he takes his second chance and gets with her. Yet his hope tangles on astring he plans to make it work. Meaning his hope is thin but the little bit of hope he wanted is still there even though it took so long it was worth it.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 14th 2009 !⃝

    I feel this song is about a guy/girl who is in fact confused over his/her feelings and reactions towards a likely failed relationship. This is evident in many of the contradictory statements made in parts of the song. e.g. 'hopes:winding in, winding out' 'feelings:so isolated, so motivated'

    However, because the song is specially titled 'vindicated'. The author must have felt vindicative towards something. This I presume is that although (likely) the reason for breakup is that he is selfish thus wrong, he was right because the girl actually cheated on him, and thus vindicated of that blame for breakup.

    For example, guy likes girl but was being too possessive, thus making selfish demands like 'i don't want you to meet that guy'. He was wrong in the sense that he was in fact being too possessive. But however, he was right (vindicated) because the girl did intend to cheat and thus he is not to be blamed for the failed relationship. This is clearly written in this paragraph of that song

    'So clear Like the diamond in your ring Cut to mirror your intention Oversized and overwhelmed The shine of which has caught my eye And rendered me so Isolated so Motivated
    I am Certain now that I am Vindicated'

    Her intentions, shining like a diamond brightly in his face (caught his eye). Caused him to feel so isolated (lonely sadness because he is cheated and alone), so motivated because he is sure he is right about his own actions.

    What is consistent is that the author of the song actually wants to get back into the relationship because he/she loves the other party so much, and at the same time fear hurt because the other party obviously doesn't care. This can be picked up at certain parts of the song in which he/she clearly stated in the intro that he has hopes for reviving the relationship but its dangling on a string and winding in and out(fearing infidelity). But he is weak on that stand because his defense is thin and one touch could land him up into the relationship again, rendering him no choice because of his deep love for her.

    Lastly he is very much disturbed by this thoughts that came to his mind. Like a recurring dream or nightmare he is thinking of this predicament every moment. The author portrays this through the repeat of the first verse at the last that he is thinking of harboring hopes for the relationship.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 22nd 2022 !⃝

    Two interpretations:

    1) He is remorseful for cheating on his partner, whose mercy, forgiveness and enduring love—despite his mistakes—gives him hope and the resolve to be better.

    2) It could also be a song written about God, as Chris Carrabba did become Christian. He confesses that he is a selfish man who has sinned, but is transformed by God’s endless mercy and enduring love—despite his mistakes—which gives him hope and the resolve to be better.

    Either way, whether speaking about God or a romantic partner or both, that person’s love transforms him to be a better person. “I am seeing in me now the things You swore you saw Yourself.”

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 5th 2021 !⃝


    I think this song is about struggling with mental illness.
    Hope is always being dangled with new drugs, new treatments, new motivation from the person themselves always trying. The thoughts of what COULD be are hypnotizing, mesmerizing dreaming of being well so you keep trying.

    The chorus sums up mental illness so well... he's right, he's wrong, he knew it all along...but at times can still pretend to be ok ' cleaning up so well' Also, many try to explain to the struggling person what THEY see in them, How we view it, and more often than not they deny it or don't see it. Such a mix mash of emotions all at once.

    So clear like the diamond in your ring
    Cut to mirror your intention
    Oversized and overwhelmed
    The shine of which has caught my eye
    And rendered me
    So isolated
    So motivated
    I am certain now that I am

    Wanting to move on in life, has become engaged, but seeing the ring and all that he will need to do in a relationship he feels overwhelmed and because he feels he is not up to it, he feels isolated in that and now he is motivated again... but not in a good way.

    So turn up the corners of your lips
    Part them and feel my fingertips
    Trace the moment fall forever

    He is saying goodbye forever

    Defense is paper thin
    Just one touch and I'll be in
    Too deep now to ever swim against the current

    He is finished fighting the illness and all the crap it prevents him from doing in life.His defenses to fight are gone, death is very close in his mind.. just one touch....and he feels the illness has taken him so deep he has no strength to fight against it.... is going to let the current take him, and is asking those around him to let him slip away. Forever.

    So let me slip away, so let me slip away
    So let me slip away, so let me slip against the current
    So let me slip away, so let me slip away
    So let me slip away, so let me slip away

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 29th 2013 !⃝

    I say it´s some guy who had a girlfriend who broke up with him, told him the reasons and he thought, back then, that she was insane (like many do) so time passes, she met someone, she´s engaged (or married) now, and just then he relizes how dumb he was and wants her back, so he goes to her and tells her he still loves her, and all about how she was right, and he was all the things she told him, but that he´s changed now, or at least he´s trying to, he sees how worthful she was, and he was able to see by himself all the flaws she had noticed years ago, he knows it´s late, but he thinks it´s worth a try.



    Hope tangles on a string, because it´s very likely that she tells him to piss off, because she´s in a happy relationship with someone else. But it´s that very situation what "hipnothized" him and makes him feel that urge to tell her what he realized.

    He knows it´s selfish to say what he´s saying, and he knows it´s wrong, and he knows he, himself is wrong, but he´s also right, because he knows that, when they broke up, he had no idea he was all that and now it´s clear to him, and he´s trying to change, this might be the last selfich thing he does to her. Telling her this so late.



    He´s seeing all of his flaws as clear as the diamond on her ring. He´s not the guy she´d want him to be yet, but he realized how much he cares, and he can´t just let her go without a fight. It´s that thing that happens when you break up, but you keep thinking you´re gonna get back together. But her getting engaged makes it clear that they won´t, so he feels the need to say, that if she´s marrying another guy because she lost faith that the singer might ever change, DON´T! he´s willing to change for her! or at least try...

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 6th 2012 !⃝

    Pleased to meet everyone here.
    I am a greenhand here. Will appreciate all of your assist.
    Best Regards

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 22nd 2012 !⃝

    I agree with the second highest rated interpretation. The reason I say that is that today I finally caught a friend of mine and my on-again/off-gain girlfriend "in the act." As I drove away I swore I heard this song playing in my head. When I got home I listened to it and It made even more sense!! Let me elaborate:

    First part is talking about how you got roped into the relationship time and time again because the "hope" that this time things will work seem to "rope" you in and "captivate" you.

    Vindicated because I always suspected her as being unfaithful. I was selfish and wrong she would tell me but no I was right, I knew it all along. And I am the man that she said I was because now i'm finally leaving.

    So clear like a diamond because even when she swore they were just friends I knew there was more.

    Finally the end is about her trying to tell me again that I am wrong and mistaken and me telling her to save her breath to smile and move on because we can finally end this vicious cycle. She can move on, be happy and I can do the same.

    So let me slip away.

    I know I'm writing this as a 30 year old man that has just gotten his heart broken by the girl he's been in a semi relationship for 5 years but that is what this song means to me.

    Thanks.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 26th 2011 !⃝

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  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 11th 2011 !⃝

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  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 29th 2011 !⃝

    After watching the movie and then having it end, this song just completely fit the emotion that was going on. It goes perfect with how Spiderman must have been feeling and how the audience feels, too.

    To me, I was going through a hard time when I first watched the movie. I loved the story and Toby Maguire's performance. (He is so perfect.)But I heard this song, and it had religious meaning to me.

    "Hope dangles on a string
    Like slow spinning redemption
    Winding in and winding out
    The shine of it has caught my eye

    And roped me in
    So, mesmerizing and so hypnotizing,
    I am captivated,"

    This is about feeling hopeless, imperfect, alone. It's about trying to recover, trying to get back up after you've kept falling down. It's when you're the lowest you've ever been and you almost don't care anymore, so you just let things unwind slowly. "So mesmerizing and so hypnotizing, I am captivated" - This to me is talking about the truth, the gospel, the light.

    "I am Vindicated
    I am selfish
    I am wrong
    I am right
    I swear I'm right
    Swear I knew it all along
    And I am flawed, but I am cleaning up so well
    I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself"

    This is someone admitting to himself his weakness, saying he is wrong and selfish and just human, really. He's not superman. He is also right because nobody is perfect. Nobody can be superman. He isn't the worst person to ever live. He's not perfect or close-to, but he is really trying and he's getting there. He starts to see how much he is worth, how much God already knew and told him he is worth. He is seeing now that he is special, and he has a special mission to perform in life. He is seeing that he has great gifts and there is so much he can do. He fills a void. The world needs him.

    "So clear
    Like the diamond in your ring
    Cut to mirror your intention
    Oversized and overwhelmed
    The shine of which has caught my eye
    And rendered me
    So isolated,and so motivated
    I am certain now that I am vindicated


    So turn
    Up the corners of your lips
    Part them and feel my finger tips
    Trace the moment, fall forever

    Defense is paper thin
    Just one touch and I'll be in
    Too deep now to ever swim against the current
    So let me slip away
    So let me slip against the current
    So let me slip away

    My hope
    dangles on a string
    Like slow spinning redemption..."

    He still feels human, but he lets himself slip away and drown in the full, contented, warm, forgiven feeling that he's realized. He is vindicated.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 24th 2011 !⃝

    "Vindicated, I am selfish i am wrong!!!!!!!"
    - Wow he is just so wrong, its so powerful. I think being wrong makes this even more powerful, and when he sings i feel wrong with him.
    yeah!!!! oh its so powerful!!!!

  13. lyrics_are_life
    click a star to vote
    Nov 7th 2010 !⃝

    I have always seen the song as being about a man who is in love with a woman who is engaged.

    "So clear/ like the diamond in your ring/ cut to mirror your intentions/ oversized, and overwhelmed/ the shine of which has caught my eye."

    he is expressing the fact that he knows that the woman is not happy with the man that she is with- that the relationship is more or less for the sake of propriety. The narrator believes he is better for her than her fiance is, and he is fianlly motivated to convince her of it.

    the line in the bridge, "so let me slip away" does not mean to slip away from her, but to slip away into a relationship that is free from guilt or envy.

  14. cholate
    click a star to vote
    Oct 16th 2010 !⃝

    Anonymous #2 I think your mom is right.

    I'd said instead of actually having an affair with a married woman, this guy is deciding if he'll go for it or not:

    "Hope dangles on a string
    Like slow spinning redemption
    Winding in and winding out
    The shine of it has caught my eye (temptation)

    And roped me in
    So mesmerizing, so hypnotizing
    I am captivated"

    She seduces him, now he knows he can have her, but hey! isn't she married?


    "So clear
    Like the diamond in your ring
    Cut to mirror your intentions
    Oversized and overwhelmed
    The shine of which has caught my eye
    And rendered me so isolated, so motivated
    I am certain now that"

    So he is totally confused, he wanna follow his emotions, it feels right but its wrong! only one touch is enough for him to fall deep:

    "So turn
    Up the corners of your lips
    Part them and feel my finger tips
    Trace the moment, fall forever
    Defense is paper thin
    Just one touch and I'd be in
    Too deep now to ever swim against the current
    So let me slip away"

    Guys Ive always thought that we have an interpretation of a song depending on our current experiences in life...What I just described as my interpretation just happened to me some months ago, I'm married and had a crush on this coworker, I knew he liked me to, we got to talk about our feelings, he confessed to me on feeling angry and frustrated because he wanted me to take me out on a date or something and he couldn't, also told me that he would love to follow his instincts and kiss me but he wont, and after that conversation we barely couldn't help to look at each others eyes without having this stupid smile in our faces, the whole office noticed it, but after some time we started to hate each other, being angry, irritated as a result of wanting something to happened but it wasn't right, so nothing happened... and one day he just didn't show up to work, and that was it,he doesn't answer my messages and another coworker told me he disconnected his home phone number, no one at the office knows what the hell happened to him.

    I just sent him a last message and dedicated this song to him, and now Ill leaving him alone so he can feel vindicated.

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 15th 2010 !⃝

    I know it isn't the most common interpretation, but for me this song is about a child and her (or his) mother. The child desperately wants a good relationship with her mom but there are too many strings attached. (Hope dangles on a string...)

    The parents had good intentions for their marriage (Like the diamond in your ring, cut to mirror your intention) but it failed. They couldn't save it and it broke them emotionally (Oversized and overwhelmed).

    The child is punished for the pain in her parents' lives (The shine of which has caught my eye and rendered me
    so isolated) and tries to make up for it (and so motivated.)

    The child holds desperately to a moment where she saw happiness in her mom. (So turn up the corners of your lips,
    part them and feel my finger tips, trace the moment.) But it is all downhill from there (Fall forever.)

    The child can not stand up to her sad mother who seeks her for comfort. (Defense is paper thin, just one touch and I'll be in too deep now to ever swim against the current.)

    The child wants to break away from all the pain and hurt piled on her. (So let me slip away...)

    The child knows it is not her fault (I am vindicated) but feels bad for hurting her mother and/or is criticized by a lot of other people (I am selfish, I am wrong) but needs to take care of herself (I am right, I swear I'm right, I swear I knew it all along.)

    After she leaves she starts to learn who she is. (And I am flawed but I am cleaning up so well.) She becomes all the things her mom criticized her for not being. (I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself.)

    But in the end, she still loves and longs for her mother's love. (My hope dangles on a string like slow spinning redemption...)

    ~ Cassa

  16. mauerjam
    click a star to vote
    May 31st 2010 !⃝

    "hope...dangles on a string"...i can see how this song plays on the relationship between Peter and maryjane in spiderman 2. The singer is speaking to the woman he loves, who is now engaged to another. He knows that she does not love the fiancee...hence "vindicated".

    He is speaking about how he has grown since they have been apart. "I am flawed, but I am cleaning up so well."

    "I am seeing in myself the things you swore you saw yourself...like Hope."

    Beautiful, beautiful song. A song of hope.

    I love how he says in the diamond, he sees a mirror, a mirror of himself, in her ring...just beautiful.

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 17th 2009 !⃝

    It's about the difficulties about being a young adult.

  18. snowdye1
    click a star to vote
    Feb 21st 2009 !⃝

    he actually wrote it before spiderman but it was for teh movie. its actually on the Dusk And summer deluxe edition along with write it ou

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