What does Cough Syrup mean?

Young the Giant: Cough Syrup Meaning

Tagged: Zombies [suggest]
Album cover for Cough Syrup album cover

Covered By: Glee Cast


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Cough Syrup Lyrics

Life's too short to even care at all oh,
I'm losing my mind losing my mind losing control.
These fishes in the sea they're staring at me oh oh,
Oh oh oh oh,
A wet world aches for a beat of a drum.
Oh.

If I could find a way to see this...

  1. anonymous
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    Feb 24th 2012 !⃝

    The dude who said the thing about a gay person got that from the Glee epsisode that aired a day after he posted that.

  2. anonymous
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    Feb 23rd 2012 !⃝

    I think it is about a gay person getting made fun of and his inspiration.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  3. anonymous
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    Dec 18th 2011 !⃝

    To: Anonymous Dec 14th, 02:40,

    It is "Zombies in the park" not "Armies". Maybe if you people used fewer drugs you could properly enjoy the music. It may be difficult for people that live their lives in a haze to grasp this, but legitimate music is like poetry. There is metaphor, comparison, artistic language. These guys did not sit down and write a song about getting high on over the counter drugs. I realize there are an abundance of talentless club and rap "artists" have done songs about getting high but this is not in that category. People tend to project when interpreting music. Maybe believing it’s about tripping on cough syrup legitimizes what you do. The sound is about navigating your way through life, taking chances, and how you can run away or seek temporary relief like "cough syrup" which is a temporary fix but not a cure.

  4. anonymous
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    Dec 14th 2011 !⃝

    it's about a bad trip guys, seriously, 1 in 3 people who try dxm end up hating the fuck out if it. I was one of them and this song lightly emphasizes on how scary shit can get and how after something like that you really can give to much of a shit about anything anymore. and now for some examples, "fishes in the sea staring at me"=paranoia, the chorus is about how you think it's gonna be an awesome ride but turns out it's the worst thing ever and you can't go back once you've taken it and that there no escape from it, "army's in the park are looking for my heart"=extreme paranoia (i felt that very exact same sensation, and wet world aches for a splash of the sun/dark world aches for a beat of a drum"= dissociative mind set's. and so you can inform yourself about the facts and not grow up to be a ignorant retard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recreational_use_of_dextromethorphan who knows you might learn something.

  5. anonymous
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    Dec 11th 2011 !⃝

    MAN! that just ruined the whole song for me.i wish it were about drugs, DRUGS,DRUGGSS!!! it made me feel like my drinking cough syrup everyday just to make it through was normal.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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    Dec 11th 2011 !⃝

    MAN! that just ruins the whole song for me. i WISH it was about drugs, DRUGS, DRUUGGGSS!!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  7. anonymous
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    Dec 8th 2011 !⃝

    This song is obviously about being in love with a zombie that he likes to drink cough syrup with in the park,but then he realizes that his true love lies with a fish that likes to hear him play the drums somewhere in the sea. I can understand that.I hate zombies. Especially when i drink a lot of cough syrup.

  8. anonymous
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    Nov 3rd 2011 !⃝

    The song is about a brake up that he has been blaming himself for, He can't seem to get over it. So he is waiting for time to go by hense the cough syrup to go down.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
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    Oct 19th 2011 !⃝

    This song is basically stating that people are dependent on things like cough syrup to make them feel better not necessarily addicted. We sometimes feel that we need to take something like cough syrup to help us sleep or feel better when its all in your head.

  10. anonymous
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    Oct 13th 2011 !⃝

    Heroin was used as a cough suppressant back in the day, perhaps he is talking about a heroin high?

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  11. anonymous
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    Sep 28th 2011 !⃝

    My interpretation is opposite of the others. Basically I think this song can be seen as a happy song,as it is a catchy song. Cough syrup has a nasty tasty 99.9% of the time BUT it does help.. so after "Waiting for this cough syrup to come down, come down" meaning any problems he may be having or whatever, He realizes that "life is too short ot even care at all, I'm coming up now coming up now out of the blue" meaning he realizes that the problems he had are nothing and life is too short to be stuck on the bad..

  12. anonymous
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    Aug 23rd 2011 !⃝

    In my opinion this song is talking about dextromethorphan (DXM) and how it does wonders.

    It explains how he is losing his mind until hes "coming up now, coming up now out of the blue" (meaning it has started to kick in)then he continues to say "if i could find a way to see this straight" he would of ran away to some fortune by now.

    it changes your perception in reality. makes you think more positive. personally i love the stuff and was doing it everyday for a few months straight.. my tolerance was so high i had to drop it. IT WAS MY LOVE DRUG.. :(

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 23rd 2011 !⃝

    My interpretation:
    The world is caught up in a bad funk, due to problems of perception. Drinking cough syrup changes your perception and through it you can find your way out.

    Seriously, though, the stuff is no joke. Used to think only kids who wanted to pretend to be high would take it until a friend convinced me to try it. Feels like acid, alcohol, weed, and mdma at once, but goes through stages that feel more like each. Oddly enough, it can be a very personal and intense journey. With this in mind, I am sure this song is about the effects of a dextromethorphan trip. Be careful with it, it is volatile when combined with a lot of stuff!

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