This song is partially about the death of lead singer Gerard Way's grandmother, Elena Lee Rush. She taught Gerard how to draw, paint and sing, and she gave him his first car - the white van that appears in the original "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" video. The song is dedicated to her, as is the CD. She is mainly who the part "Can you hear me? Are you near me?" is for. But this song also starts the concept of the CD. A man and a woman (Helena) die in a car crash ("When both our cars collide"), except the woman doesn't really die, the man only thinks she has. The man is sent to Hell. This song is a mourning for Helena's "death" by the man. He is wishing he could see her again and is giving his last goodbyes ("So long and goodnight").
Throughout the Warped Tour 2005, Gerard introduced this song as the most important song to himself and his band.
In an interview with the Florida Sun-Sentinel, Way explained that Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is a combination evil, devil-vampire story and sweet tribute to Grandma. The whole CD was to be about revenge and this guy coming back from hell to be reunited with his love, then Elena, Way's grandmother died, and they decided to add in tributes to her because he loved her dearly and she was the one who taught him everything he needs to know to have a good band (i.e. how to sing). He had no idea how it would work with the rest of the CD that was supposed to be a storyline on revenge. "I don't know if it fits," Way says, "but I know that's how we had to make the record. And it's one of those things you just hope works in the end. And actually, the record works so much more on a personal level not only for us but also for the people who listen to it.
In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Nights Dream, there is a character named Helena who toward the plays' end falls into a deep sleep. This could coincide with the songs' refrain, "So long and Goodnight."
Before playing this song during their 2005 American tour, Gerard Way would tell the crowd to look up and say, "Hey Grandma! What's Up?"
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