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Cover of Young the Giant by Young the Giant
Cover: Young the Giant

Song · Young the Giant

“Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant

From the album Young the Giant (2010)

“Cough Syrup” by Young the Giant appears on 44 radio countdowns from 32 stations between 2011 and 2026. It was first released in 2010 on the album Young the Giant. Its best result is #3 on the WEQX Top 102.7 of 2011. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #16 alternative song of 2011, #2,015 alternative song of all time and #33 of the '10s.

44countdowns
32stations
#3best position
0#1 finishes
3top 10 finishes
2011–2026years charted

Watch

Young the Giant - Cough Syrup (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (Young the Giant). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Cough Syrup" is older than the band's name. Young the Giant wrote it back when they were still The Jakes, first put it on their 2008 EP Shake My Hand, and then carried it over to their self-titled 2010 debut album. The early version picked up spins on KROQ's Locals Only show and a Best Song nomination at the 2009 OC Music Awards.

Singer Sameer Gadhia has said it came out of a stretch when the group was unsigned and broke, and he calls it a plea to escape the dull sameness of Orange County suburbia. You can hear that restlessness in the build: a woozy, hanging verse that swells into a big, pleading chorus. It went on to reach number three on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2011 12 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 30 Songs of 2011 30
2011 18 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2011 101
2011 10 CD101 Columbus, OH CD101 Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 25 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON 102.1 The Edge Top 102 Songs of 2011 102
2011 40 The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2011 99
2011 10 ALT 104.5 Philadelphia, PA Radio 104.5 Top 50.5 Songs of 2011 51
2011 14 KJEE 92.9 Santa Barbara, CA KJEE Top 92 Songs of 2011 92
2011 28 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 of 2011 97
2011 91 105.7 The Point St. Louis, MO 105.7 The Point Top 105 Songs of 2011 105
2011 18 Rock 93.5 Columbia, SC Rock 93.5 WARQ Top 93 of 2011 92
2011 21 88.3 The Sting Cleveland, OH 88.3 The Sting WBWC Top 88 Songs of 2011 88
2011 22 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2011 107
2011 34 103.1 The River Kalispell-Flathead Valley, MT 103.1 The River Top 103 of 2011 103
2011 3 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2011 103
2011 43 94.3 WCYY Portland, ME WCYY Top 50 Songs of 2011 50
2011 12 94.1 The Zone Rochester, NY 94.1 The Zone Most Played Songs of 2011 94
2011 29 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtracks of 2011 94
2011 28 X107.5 Las Vegas, NV X107.5 Top 50 Songs That Didn't Suck 2011 50
2011 19 90.5 WERG Erie, PA WERG Top 90 of 2011 90
2011 37 KFMA Tucson, AZ KFMA Top 50 Songs of 2011 50
2011 12 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2011 98
2011 22 WBRU Providence, RI WBRU Top 95.5 Songs of 2011 96
2012 30 97X Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 97X Top 97 Songs of 2012 97
2012 18 92.3 WTTS Indianapolis-Bloomington, IN WTTS Top 50 Songs of 2012 50
2012 28 Lightning 100 Nashville, TN Lightning 100 Top 100.1 Songs of 2012 101

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2011 1151 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 771 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2013 467 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2014 724 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 300 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2014) 500
2015 308 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2015) 500
2019 61 93X 93X Top 93 Songs of the Decade (2010s) 93
2019 80 103.3 The Edge 103.3 The Edge Top 103.3 Songs of the Decade 103
2019 60 ALT 98.7 ALT 98.7 Top 98 ALT Songs of the Decade 98
2019 32 102.7 WEQX WEQX Top 102.7 of the 2010's Decade 103
2019 405 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2019) 500
2020 73 107.7 The End The End Top 107 Songs of Last Decade (2010s) 107
2020 31 The Buzz The Buzz Top 99 Songs of the Decade 99
2020 256 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2022 207 101X 101X 500 (2022) 498
2023 374 94.3 WCYY WCYY CYY 500 Most Played Songs (2023) 500
2024 881 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century 1055
2024 762 WXPN WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024) 885
2026 272 101X 101X 500 (2026) 500

Charting alongside it in 2011

Best songs of 2011 →
  1. 1Pumped up KicksFoster The People
  2. 2RopeFoo Fighters
  3. 3The Adventures of Rain Dance MaggieRed Hot Chili Peppers
  4. 4WalkFoo Fighters
  5. 5You are a TouristDeath Cab for Cutie
  6. 6Rolling in the DeepAdele

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