Gadhia said the song is "kind of a cry for help" to "break free, not necessarily from oppression, but the common symptoms of suburbia like boredom, normality and homogeneity."

Bassist Payam Doostzadeh, in a 2011 interview, said that with "Cough Syrup" being the oldest song in Young the Giant's catalog, "it's kind of hard for us to play it."

"[9] Consequence of Sound's Caitlin Meyer, in a review of the Young the Giant album, wrote of the song: "Mellow guitar and cello contrast the sunny preceding tracks, the lyrics contemplate apathy and misdirection, and yet the chorus is still so compelling that you find yourself humming it hours later.

"[10] Both Chris Conaton of PopMatters and Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic described "Cough Syrup" as being stylistically similar to Coldplay's typical sound.

"[11] Rolling Stone's Matt Ross called "Cough Syrup" an "album highlight",[13] while Chris White of musicOMH suggested the song is influenced by Kings of Leon.

[14] Darren Criss' character Blaine Anderson covered the song on the season three episode of Glee titled "On My Way" during a scene when closeted football player Dave Karofsky (Max Adler) attempts suicide after being outed as gay.