Reptilia

The "Reptilia" is a scientific term meaning the part of the brain we share with reptiles. It relates to higher-level base instincts and emotions. The title is not in the lyrics, implying that the singer is thinking with this part of his brain and acting on emotion rather than reason.

Room On Fire took its name from a line in this song, "The room is on fire as she's fixing her hair."

The Room On Fire album cover is a section of a 1961 painting by the English pop-artist Peter Phillips entitled War/Game. The artwork depicts opposing American Civil War forces through typical emblems of combat – flags, guns and uniforms. According to Phillips it is a depiction of "peace and war, love and hate, truth and lies." The Strokes felt his moody piece matched with some of the record's lyrical concerns, most notably the theme of relationship politics. Peter Phillips (born May 21, 1939) is an English artist and pioneer of the Pop Art movement. His work has been exhibited in The Strokes home city of New York, alongside such American counterparts as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.