Slipknot’s ‘Clown’ Shares Story Behind Goat on ‘Iowa’ Cover

In addition to masks and jumpsuits, one of Slipknot’s many signature symbols is a goat. Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan has shared the story behind the goat on the Iowa cover — and it had a pretty familiar name.

“That goat’s name is Eeyore,” Clown told Metal Hammer in a reflective piece on the 20th anniversary of Iowa. Of course, “Eeyore” is the name of a hidden track inside of album closer “Scissors” on 1999’s Slipknot. 

“My mentor who got me going into photography, Stefan Seskis, he shot the first album cover, I came up with the concept and I so badly wanted to shoot the second album cover, and I just couldn’t get it done. One day I handed him the goat,” Clown said.

When he returned to the studio, Seskis had taken several Polaroid photos of the goat. Though the rocker was frustrated that he hadn’t been able to get the shot himself, that album cover became a significant part of Slipknot’s traditions. The 10th anniversary reissue of the record featured a different view of Eeyore the goat.

“The cover has a lot of symbolic, metaphoric solutions in it for everyone in our culture,” Clown added. “I haven’t really explained it. It’s for the end times to put the whole picture together, so I’m not going to go into that.

“The cover is as important as the inside cover, which is the mirror I made. All these people think they know what Slipknot is, everyone wants to judge a book by its cover,” he continued. “But if you’re a good parent, and you’re checking out what your child is listening to, you open it up and you realize you’re already part of it. There you are. Your twisted little fucking self. Right there in that mirror, you’re already part of this timeframe called Iowa.”