What is the Karma and Effect Album Cover?
The cover for Karma and Effect is a strange one. Often referred to Shaun Morgan as "the white chick with the black eye" it has become an iconic cover of Seether's illustrious career. We will explore not just the cover but other art from the album as well.
Shaun Morgan has referred to the cover as "the white chick with the black eye" in the One Cold Night interviews. He also mentioned a previous cover that was discarded. His goal with this artwork was to create an easily recognizable cover.
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"There were some images that were deemed a little risque. They were just deemed offensive by somebody. So once again, we'll make some compromises on this one." - Shaun Morgan
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The album artwork was designed by Gareth Botha, an Atlanta based artist who grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Most notably are the strange golden works on the left side of the image. These seem to resemble guitar amps plugged into this "white chick". It is possible that this character represents Shaun and Seether, while the guitar amps represent the label company (Wind-Up Records).
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Shaun has been extremely vocal on Wind-Up abusing their power, dictating what the band could and could not do, even forcing the band to change their album title.
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"Last time around [Disclaimer] we had a manager from South Africa, she wasn’t very good at what she was doing and she was letting them walk all over us." - Shaun Morgan
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"They would bulldoze and bully us because they knew they could." - Shaun Morgan
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Catering To Cowards: The original title of the album. When asked about this title on an interview with MOD, Shaun said, "someone took it personally so we changed it.". The interviewer asked him to specify what cowards they were catering to, in which Shaun hesitantly replied "cooperate businesses in America".
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Looking at the lyrics, we see this toxic relationship further on display.
Truth: "I belong to them" , "I'm convinced on the inside, something's wrong with me" ,
Tongue: "Well the tongue inside my mouth is not for sale"
Plastic Man: "I am a plastic man, just wrap me up in a bow and flowers"
Simplest Mistake: "Self-made millionaires won't take ideas from all the little plebeians"
Given: "I'll tell you it's all for you, then deny it"
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Front Cover: The character appears as a white and pale creature of sorts, with a cold lifeless black eye. Cables/guitar amps are plugged into this character. It may essentially represent the draining of ideas, passion and livelihood of the band. Thus leaving a pale lifeless being. This idea becomes prevalent with other promotional artwork, such as a heart with more obvious cables plugged into it.
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Butterfly and Broken Glass: Located inside the album booklet, is a drawing of a butterfly surrounded by shards of broken glass and some loose screws. If we use the same idea as before, the butterfly may represent Seether. The label company tried to "capture" and "display" the butterfly as a prize. But of course this would destroy or even harm the butterfly. Another image features a butterfly perched on a wall with the repeated lines, "You'll be the death of me".
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Gold Figure Crying: Also located in the album booklet is a golden figure that appears cracked and crying. The Greek myth of King Midas tells a story of a man who wished that everything he touched turned into gold. However after touching his food (which became gold), he nearly starved to death and realized this was a curse, not a blessing. This story can be applied to the relationship between Wind-Up Records and Seether.
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Mouth Within A Mouth: Lastly this image depicts a mouth within a mouth. This could represent Wind-Up being the overbearing voice and direction of Seether.
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