Cough medicine

A cough medicine or cough and cold medicine, also known as cough syrup or linctus when in syrup form, is a medicinal drug used in those with coughing and related conditions. There is no good evidence one way or the other for over-the-counter cough medications. While they are used by 10% of American children weekly, they are not recommended in Canada and the United States in children 6 years or younger because of lack of evidence showing effect and concerns of harm.

Types

There are a number of different cough and cold medications, which may be used for various coughing symptoms. The commercially available products may include various combinations of any one or more of the following five types of substances:

Cough Syrup (song)

"Cough Syrup" is a song by American alternative rock band Young the Giant from their eponymous debut album. It was composed when the band was named The Jakes, and first appeared on their 2008 EP Shake My Hand. Released by Young The Giant as a single in 2011, the song peaked at number three on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.

Origins and lyrics

"Cough Syrup" predates Young the Giant, when the band was known as The Jakes. The song appeared on the band's 2008 Shake My Hand EP, received regular airplay on KROQ's Locals Only radio program, and won a "Best Song" nomination at the 2009 OC Music Awards.

Lead vocalist Sameer Gadhia explained that "Cough Syrup" was written at a time when the band was unsigned, had no money and "didn't really know what to do with ourselves." The group, he continued, "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 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."