Theme
The lyrics center around the narrator's willingness to accept, and even encourage, abuse from a romantic interest. The chorus says, in part, "It's true I always wanted love to be full of pain...I am so very, very happy, so come on and hurt me I am so very, very happy, so please hit me..." One critic wrote that "Cripple and the Starfish" is an example of how Hegarty informs "emotions with their opposites" and cited the lyrics "I always wanted love to be / filled with pain and bruises" as a way in which the writer-singer "transforms his songs into deliciously painful pleasures."
A reviewer for The Guardian called this song "a majestic and poignant anthem about the unhelpful blindness of love in an abusive relationship" and said "It's about having your fingers cut off and them growing again, like a starfish. It's about coming back for more." Another critic deemed it "a redemptive love song", with "Antony creating a metaphor for the pain of love with the repeated lyric 'I grow back like a starfish.'"
Read more about this topic: Cripple And The Starfish
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