Young The Giant were known as The Jakes until 2010, when they released their self-titled album. "Cough Syrup" dates back to their Jakes days; it first appeared in 2008 on their Shake My Hand EP, and was then released on that first Young The Giant album - it's the only song on the tracklist left over from their days as The Jakes. It's a very meaningful song for the band and their fans, as it coincides with their transformation and rise. It's a concert mainstay and remains one of their most popular songs.
"Cough Syrup" was written as a cry for help when the band was broke and didn't know what to do with themselves. Frontman Sameer Gadhia explained that the group "felt somewhat oppressed by the universal expectation of what to do in Orange County... in suburbia in general. I think we really yearned to break out of that and do something a little bit different."
Gadhia added that the song was their attempt to "break free, not necessarily from oppression, but the common symptoms of suburbia like boredom, normality and homogeneity."
"Symptoms" is the key word here - cough syrup won't cure your cold, but it will make you feel better by mitigating the symptoms. When Gadhia sings that he's "waiting for this cough syrup to come down," he's getting ready to make a real change, curing the metaphorical cold instead of just treating it.
"Cough Syrup" was released as a single in the summer of 2011 but didn't get much attention until February 21, 2012, when it was featured in the "On My Way" episode of the popular TV series Glee. On the show, it was performed by Darren Criss in character as Blaine Anderson. His performance is intercut with scenes of the gay character David Karofsky struggling with hate threats on his social media pages, leading to an attempted suicide.
The members of Young the Giant did have to think a bit about whether to grant permission for the series to use their song, but were eventually pleased with its placement in such a poignant scene. "I don't think we ever had the intent of the song... in such a serious scene," Gadhia told Billboard magazine: "It's very, very intense, very, very impactful, and we most definitely empathized with that. All of us have been victims of bullying - and been bullies at some point in time. It's something that hits everyone."
After the episode, Darren Criss' version was released as a single (credited to the Glee Cast), and the week of March 10, that version charted at #65 while the original reached #95. This was a big break for the band, earning them a much bigger fanbase with a song that was four years old.
The music video, directed by Petro, was filmed at the Silverado indoor pool in Southern California. The band wanted to get in the water with their instruments, but Petro brought in synchronized swimmers to do routines instead. For their out-of-water scenes, the women eventually agreed to be sprayed with glitter, even though they were worried about inhaling it.
The song was written soon after guitarist Eric Cannata joined the band. On the
Off The Record Podcast, the group's other guitarist, Jacob Tilley, explained how it came together. "We've had many iterations in Young The Giant," he said. "'Cough Syrup' came from back in the day when Eric first joined the band and he was like, 'I have this riff and this kind of melody idea.' And then we worked on it for a day and the song formed itself."
When Darren Criss performs at concerts or showcases, he usually includes "Cough Syrup" in his set. After he sang it on Glee, he stayed in touch with the band, and on June 18, 2026 they performed it together for the first time when he joined Young The Giant at their concert at Pier 17 in New York City.
When they made the Young The Giant album, the band members were all living together and laser focused on their music. After this song took off, giving them a little cushion, they started forming families, so their lives no longer revolved around the band. They settled into a comfortable cycle of releasing an album about every four years, going for consistent quality and creative growth over stardom and burnout.
