"Cripple and the Starfish" is a song written by Anohni and performed by Antony and the Johnsons, a Mercury Prize-winning music act from New York City.
"[7] 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.
"[8][11][12] In describing a 2000 New York Public Theater performance of Antony and the Johnsons at Joe's Pub, a reviewer for Brainwashed discussed the single of this song stating that "since nothing is quite as fascinating as horror, I found myself returning repeatedly to "Cripple and the Starfish", and to my utter surprise discovered that I was hooked.
In 2001, The Village Voice mentioned this song as one which aptly demonstrates Anohni's "Disarmingly childlike" stage presence which "twines innocence to decidedly polymorphous perversity.
"[13] A 2003 review in PAPER Magazine named "Cripple and the Starfish" as among Anohni's "gorgeous, crystal-pure tunes" that possesses "a silvery, sweetly masochistic intensity.