Most people seem to think this song mean nothing more than, “I do what I want, I’m special- You’re not. Fuck you.” However, I would suggest that it’s a little deeper than that.

The first verse, being about his (BG) own parents or not, gives me the impression of an American soldier coming home from Vietnam. The soldiers usually returned to a very lackluster celebration of their time spent serving the country- Needless to say it was not a popular war. The first verse finishes up by insinuating that even though the soldier returned home alive, he was probably suffering from Agent Orange exposure or some other fantastic experimental development of our Military. Traditionally, the two characters did what is believed to be righteous- Fighting for your country and standing by your man (husband) but the reward for such a sacrifice was more of a punishment and just a waste of many lives. [i]“Hey, can you tell me how does it feel”[/i] asks the man who for whatever reason chose a different path in life.

Next, I believe Brett take the writing in a more personal direction. However, he wrote the song and not me so I could be way off the mark here but, it does seem to me that the lines, [i]“when I slept with stony faces on the riverbank, my angeldevil reveler shook me…” and I don’t exactly want to apologize for anything”[/i] Brett hints at those careless times with girls, drugs, maybe friends and family where he didn’t mean any harm but maybe his actions would surely have the prospect for ill consequences. At the time, he might even have known better and his “angeldevil” or voices in his head argued don’t do this. I think we’ve all had those times where we kind of wanted to apologize for something but mainly because others make us feel guilty about it and not because we genuinely believe we’ve done something wrong. [i]“We’re all mad and tangled in secret rooms with roman candles on an endless grave yard train”[/i] is pretty self explanatory. We’ve all got our own issues we carry with us that sometimes explode; we’re all headed to the same place, so why worry about them so much?

The choruses are not only fun and uplifting to sing along to but also inspirational in my opinion. Do you know what it’s like to be free in your heart? You’re immune to outside critique and restraints! Well, I do. I know how it feels and if you are too afraid to live outside of the world’s etiquette- Fuck you!

The bridge verse seems very personal and I would think it has a lot to do with what was going on with Bad Religion, Epitaph, maybe his wife, etc… at that time and may be more of Brett saying “fuck this” than him saying “fuck you.” A time when life is boring because everything this so serious and structured on the outside but clinging to a thread on the inside and you just want to take a step back, tune out of reality, and collect you thoughts.

Over all, since the first time I listened to the song, Hooray for Me… has been one of my all-time favorite Bad Religion songs and my interpretation of the meaning behind it has changed only slightly.

The previous intepretation explains all the literal.
But a lot of us have our own personal connections to this song. The signature Bad Religion two-liner use here is probably the most anthemistic shoutouts in Bad Religion's discography.
This song screams that no matter how much of a lowlife or pathetic pile of shit everyone else in the world thinks you are, if you're cool with yourself and what you do, no one can touch you. "Doing anything you don't have to" and because you want to is an expression of individuality and initiative. The tone of the song implies the assailment from close-minded people. The very last chorus "I'm not respectable...I've been incredible; So damned irrascible" shows contrasting external opinions, and the final punch "I like the things I do, so hooray for me... and FUCK YOU" justifies the aforementioned point that if you're comfortable or favorable of who you are, no one else's opinion has to mean anything.
This song is a massive inspiration.

This song is pretty straight forward. It just says "I do what I want and I don't give a fuck what anybody else thinks". There are so many people saying what they plan on doing and in the end they end up dreaming and not achieving anything. Brett just basically says that you should do what you want.

I had always thought that, in this song, the line 'Hooray for Me and Fuck you' was just egotistical Mr. Brett saying 'I'm more important and intelligent than the rest of you so fuck off!' But recently I read an interview with Mr.. Brett and he explained the song. The song is so deep and personal to him that it is damn near impossible to interpret it without his help. The first verse is about his grandmothers death, which left Brett's dad in charge of the family at the age of 13. Brett said his dad was still able to accomplish all his hopes and dreams. 'The underground heroes of the Tarmac, shooting smack' were people who were low lives at that time but would grow up to Mr. Brett's inspiration, such as Jack Karouac, and Allen Ginnsburg. They were revolutionary and original and went after what they wanted. The song is about just that - going after what you've always wanted. By 'hooray for me' he is applauding himself for going after his dream - which is music. He then says 'fuck you' to all the people who told him, while growing up, to go to school and get a real job and not waste time with music. If you don't go for your dream, you'll regret it the rest of your life thus 'yeah, I was dreaming through the howzlife, yawning, car black in the night...' The 'stony faces on the riverbank' is a metaphor of wasted time. He says the river is the universal symbol of time - 'stones in the river are the drones of humanity.'