Auld Lang Syne

Posted by eileen on December 30, 2009

Such a lovely song, but where did it come from and why do we sing it on New Year’s Eve?  I decided to do some quick database searching to get an answer.  According to a 1998 article from The Christian Science Monitor, “Scottish poet Robert Burns is credited with writing the song, though it’s more likely he pieced the words and melody together from old Scottish folk songs. Translated, ‘auld lang syne’ means ‘old long since,’ or ‘days gone by’ in a Scottish dialect.”  The words we sing today are slightly different from Burns’ original poem.  Here are the first couple verses:

SHOULD auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to min’?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o’ lang syne?
We twa hae rin about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit
Sin’ auld lang syne.

The entire text of Burns’ poem can be viewed at Bartleby.com.

Guy Lombardo and his band, The Royal Canadians, are credited with making the song a New Year’s standard, after playing it on the radio to millions of Americans on December 31, 1929.  For more information about that historic performance, take a look at Sarah Burton’s Moment: December 31, 1929: The Roosevelt Grill, New York City, five minutes to midnight… This article and the earlier mentioned article can be found in InfoTrac General One File.  WPL card holders can access this database from home and anyone can access it from inside the library.

More information:

Auld Lang Syne Lyrics from Wikipedia

History of Auld Lang Syne from About.com

Links to sheet music from About.com