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The cover art for Fit For Rivals‘ debut album depicts lead vocalist Renee Phoenix as a wild warrior fending off the attack of a dark lion using a sword. The battle takes place in a vibrant field with the background depicting an ocean and mountains.
Moving away from the more literal description of the cover, Steady Damage is a deeply personal album for Phoenix, one of self-discovery, overcoming adversity, hardships, and new strength. Her near bare appearance in the album cover symbolizes how much she let out in terms of subject matter and pure emotion through her vocals, letting listeners truly understand her situation.
The dark lion in this case symbolizes the negativity that faces Renee in her life and how it tries to eat away at her. Though she could just run away from it or kill the pain, Renee braves herself against it because it is a part of her life and she won’t try to escape the past or push it away.
Notice that the field snares the lion’s leg, the field may represent Renee’s loved ones that give her strength or aid her when she needs it.
Also notice that as Renee’s hand touches the lion’s nose, its head changes to the same red and orange color scheme that most of the cover takes. This shows how Renee transform her pain into strength, taking the lessons she has learned along with her family and friends' love and channeling it through her music.
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You'll never amount to—
Get away, get away
Get away from me, get away
You'll never amount to—
Get away, get away
Get away from me, get away
You'll never amount to shit Fit For Rivals – Damage
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Even with all the negativity she has gone through, she’s reached a point of success and happiness and she wants to push those past feelings aside.
The truth is that regardless of the hardships that everyone goes through, there will always be hurdles that break people down and they may run away from it all but if they rise up and fight against it, it will make them stronger and the pain ultimately amounts to nothing.
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Renee wants everything except the pain she feels though that is the thing that will always remain as it is a part of her. With her pain holding her down, it makes Phoenix feel as if she is losing a grip on her life. She understands her pain in that way; a constant burden that makes her seem to lose sense of herself.
Steady damage, cross the line
You had it all, now I've got mine Fit For Rivals – Damage
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Adding these additional lines to the chorus, the things in the past are left behind and can’t be changed and the damage that she endures with remains.
Everyone goes through bad times throughout their lives and the same goes for Phoenix (“You had it all, now I’ve got mine”)
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Giving her pain a seemingly physical identity, it constrains Renee and doesn’t allow her to move forward though she is aware there is always more to endure.
The music video also makes a reference to this as Renee is seen throughout wearing a straitjacket to constrict her and at one point, she is held down by a doctor and injected with a needle.
You don't know anything
You don't know anything about me, yeah Fit For Rivals – Damage
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The introduction has Renee stating that no one knows anything about her. The painful emotions that she was experiencing were never truly expressed until the recording and release of their album as each song fleshed out who Renee truly was and what she was enduring.
Discipline, it's all I'm not
Can't help myself, you listening?
Why can't I say just what I want? Fit For Rivals – Damage
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The “it” Renee refers to in the first line in the verse is the pain and negativity surrounding her personal life which this song centers around. Possibly suffering through a stint of depression, it seems that she felt that she could/would never recover because there was no end in sight for the bad times.
Damage serves as a therapeutic song for Phoenix as she felt that things were wearing her down, asking listeners if they were truly understanding the meaning behind her words and venting her frustrations through music.
What's become clearly defined
Steady damage, cross the line
What's become clearly defined Fit For Rivals – Damage
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Renee has stated that Damage was written during a heavily negative period of time in her life that deeply affected who she was. She also mentions that their debut album’s name, Steady Damage references this.
At this point in my life, I was trying to make sense of a lot of things.
This quote from her interview with rock blog Antimusic connects to the part of the chorus where she sings (“What’s become clearly defined”). She tried to find meaning in all the events that were occurring in her life at the time.
