The song has also been performed on various late-night talk shows, and has also appeared in several other films and video games, such as The Three Stooges, Wadjda, Rock Band 4, GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience, Premature and Fuser.

While composing the piano score for a "really depressing, moody movie",[a] Zucconi began to play around with various chords before settling on a melody.

[9] The song is composed in the key of E-flat major[10] using common time and a moderate dance tempo of 106 beats per minute.

[8] Matt Edsall of PopMatters said that the song "pumps Passion Pit-like beats that push the band into that same electro-pop category that so many other projects are involved in today, ruining the tone of the album a mere five minutes in".

[13] Huw Jones of Slant Magazine said that "Tongue Tied" and the following track, "Lovely Cup", were lackluster songs that "completely derail the momentum".

The camera follows a man at the party running away from a group of masked people in suits, ultimately tripping and landing in an inflatable pool.