Complex Love like a Starfish
A broken heart is something many people have experienced. Hopefully the body, heart and soul will heal enough for you to move on. Antony and the Johnsons describe this state very well in their song “Cripple and the Starfish”. I have analysed the lyrics of this song to understand how a person manages to go from a broken heart to a healing soul, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Love can hurts, love can make you happy, love can definitely cripple you, but in the end like a starfish you heal and grow.
The title, “Cripple and the Starfish”, shows a division of different states of minds of a person. The starfish is the only animal in the world that can regenerate pieces of their own body. Love has the same power as a starfish; no mater how hurt and crippled you get, you will grow back and find new ways to love. In the title the starfish is the strong one who rises again; and the cripple - the weaker who is left behind - is still suffering. They are the same person but in different stages.
The theme of the song is a combination of how life and love grow with each other. The lyric is about a person’s struggle within himself and the healing process of his soul. I have taken some samples from the lyric to emphasize this thesis.
Mr. Muscle forcing bursting
Stingy thingy into little me, me, me
But just “ripple” said the cripple
As my jaw dropped to the ground
In the beginning of the lyric the person, Mr. Muscle, has problems handling the pain, the pain that stings him over and over again. Mr. Muscle could be the heart, comprehending the sturdiness of pain from love. The complexity of love complicates everyday life, and can be very painful. The ripple on the water is illustrates that Mr. Muscle should just follow and give in. Mr. Muscle is the one hurting and suffering from the “stingy thingy” that forces itself upon him, and the cripple, which could be the head, is not able to think clearly, nor get the picture of how...