In concert, Flansburgh sometimes keeps time and rhythm by banging an amplified tree branch on the stage as he sings this song (there's some footage of him doing it in Gigantic). The fans, of course, love this, and have shouted, "The stick! The stick!" as a way of requesting this song.
"This song has been commonly misunderstood, this song is called 'Lie Still, Little Bottle' and people seem to think it's about alcoholism, but we are family entertainment, and this song is about, uh...amphetamines and barbituates, actually, so please, don't get the wrong idea. It's fictitious." - John Flansburgh, Feb. 10, 1992