Songfacts®:

• This track includes a cameo from American rapper Kool Keith in his Dr. Octagon persona. Vocalist Karen O told NME: "I think we really wanted to have as much fun as we could with the writing and collaborating with people and push ourselves to do things we hadn't done before. I've always fancied a rapper on a YYYs track so we got him to do it. I had a wish list and, you know, De Octagon was one of the ones on the list."
• The song features production by James Murphy, who is best known for his musical project, LCD Soundsystem. Karen O said to NME regarding the New Yorker's work on this track: "It's probably one of the dancier ones on the record...but it's also kind of like nitrous in a batcave! It's spooky. It's got a dancey beat but it's generally a bit trippy."
• Despite Mosquito's fatalistic track listing (as well as this song, other titles include "Despair" and "Under The Earth") Karen O insisted to Billboard magazine that the album isn't preoccupied by morbid subject matter. "The vibe is definitely up, but it wouldn't be a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album if there wasn't some sort of confrontation or aggression," she said.
  Guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner added: "It's about expelling those angry feelings."