"Hooray for Auburn!" (sometimes Hurrah for Auburn! or simply Hooray!) is the
fight song of
Auburn High School in
Auburn,
Alabama, United States. The melody and basic wording of "Hooray for Auburn" have been adopted for use in the fight songs of many schools in the United States, including
Hoover High School ("Hooray for Hoover"), Sheffield High School ("Hurrah For Sheffield") and
Prattville High School ("Hooray for Prattville").[1]
When used by other schools, the lyrics are generally modified by changing the word "Auburn" to something else, such as the school name or mascot.
History
The basic lyrical structure of "Hooray for Auburn" comes from a
cheer that was common in the mid-twentieth century. One of the earliest published versions of the cheer is in
Lucile Hasley's 1953 book The Mouse Hunter. In 1961, Auburn High School Band director Tommy Goff wrote music for these lyrics after hearing the cheer used by the Auburn High
cheerleaders at a
junior varsityfootball game. The song began being used as the Auburn High School fight song later that year. Around 1963, LaFayette High School in
LaFayette, Alabama began using the music as their fight song and soon after several other schools in eastern Alabama adopted "Hooray!".[3]
Schools which use "Hooray!" as a fight song
The following schools use or have used a variation of "Hooray for Auburn!" as a fight song:
^Auburn High School Band music library, "Hooray for Auburn"; Alan Newton, "25 Years of Genius", Tiger Tales, October 10, 1980; Jimmy White, "Friday pep rally sends team on the road to state", Prattville Progress, December 13, 2006.