Auld Lang Syne Totally Explained

Everything about Auld Lang Syne totally explained

"Auld Lang Syne" is a poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294), although the same phrase (Auld Lang Syne) is used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570–1638), Allan Ramsay (1686-1757) and James Watson (1711) as well as older folk songs predating Burns.
It is well-known in many English-speaking countries, and it's often sung at the stroke of midnight on the 1st of January, New Year's Day. Like many other frequently sung songs, the melody is better remembered than the words, which are often sung incorrectly, and seldom in full.
The song's (Scots) title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago" or "days gone by". In his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language, Matthew Fitt uses the phrase “In the days of auld lang syne” as the equivalent of “Once upon a time.” In Scots syne is pronounced like the English word sign — — not [zain] as many people pronounce it.

History

Robert Burns forwarded a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum with the remark, “The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man's singing, is enough to recommend any air.” At the time it was fashionable to claim one's own work was "traditional"; therefore, one should take Burns' statement with mild scepticism. Some of the lyrics were indeed "collected" rather than composed by the poet; the ballad "Old Long Syne" printed in 1711 by James Watson shows considerable similarity in the first verse and the chorus to Burns' later poem. It is a fair supposition to attribute the rest of the poem to Burns himself.
There is some doubt as to whether the melody used today is the same one Burns originally intended, but it's widely used both in Scotland and in the rest of the world. Links to the original and contemporary melodies can be found here

Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Eve very quickly became a Scots custom that soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (and other Britons) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.
Band leader Guy Lombardo is often credited with popularizing the use of the song at New Year’s celebrations in America, through his annual broadcasts on radio and TV, beginning in 1929. The song became his trademark; in addition to his live broadcasts, he recorded the song more than once, first in 1939, and at least once later, on September 29, 1947, in a record issued as a single by Decca Records as catalog #24260.
However, he neither invented nor introduced the custom, even there. The ProQuest newspaper archive has articles dated 1896 that describe revellers on both sides of the Atlantic singing the song to usher in the New Year. Two examples follow:

"Holiday Parties at Lenox" (Massachusetts, USA) (1896) – The company joined hands in the great music room at midnight and sang “Auld Lang Syne” as the last stroke of 12 sounded and the new year came in.

"New Year's Eve in London" (London, UK) (1910) – Usual Customs Observed by People of All Classes… The passing of the old year was celebrated in London much as usual. The Scottish residents gathered outside of St. Paul's Church and sang “Auld Lang Syne” as the last stroke of 12 sounded from the great bell.

Lyrics

As detailed above, auld lang syne literally means "old long since", but a more idiomatic English translation would be something like "long long ago",
   It is used as a graduation song and a funeral song in Taiwan and Hong Kong, symbolizing an end or a goodbye. In Japan and Hungary, too, it's used in graduation ceremonies, and many stores and restaurants play it to usher customers out at the end of a business day. Before the composition of Aegukga, the lyrics of Korea’s national anthem were sung to the tune of this song. In both the Indian Armed Forces and Pakistani Military, the band plays this song during the graduating parade of the recruits.
   In the Philippines, it's well known and sung at celebrations like graduations, New Year and Christmas Day. Also, before 1972, it was the tune for the Gaumii salaam anthem of The Maldives (with the current words). In Thailand, it's used for Samakkkhi Chumnum (Together in unity), sung after sports.
   In Brazil, Portugal, France, Spain, Greece, Poland, and Germany this song is used to mark a farewell. It is also used in the Scout movement for the same purpose, but with somewhat different lyrics. A somewhat different use of the song as a farewell occurred in October 2000, when it was played as the body of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau left Parliament Hill in Ottawa for the last time, going to Montreal for the state funeral.
   The song is also the official corps song for the Kilties drum and bugle corps.

Melody

The tune to which "Auld Lang Syne" is universally sung is a pentatonic Scots folk melody, probably originally a sprightly dance in a much quicker tempo.
   English composer William Shield seems to quote the "Auld Lang Syne" melody briefly at the end of the overture to his opera Rosina, which may be its first recorded use. The contention that Burns borrowed the melody from Shield is for various reasons highly unlikely, although they may very well both have taken it from a common source, possibly a strathspey called The Miller's Wedding or The Miller's Daughter. The problem is that tunes based on the same set of dance steps necessarily have a similar rhythm, and even a superficial resemblance in melodic shape may cause a very strong apparent similarity in the tune as a whole. For instance, Burns' poem "Coming Through the Rye" is sung to a tune that might also be based on the Miller's Wedding. The origin of the tune of God Save the Queen (q.v.) presents a very similar problem, and for just the same reason, as it's also based on a dance measure. (See the note in the William Shield article on this subject.)
   Whatever its source, the "Auld Lang Syne" tune has been used all over the world in various contexts, for example:
In Denmark, the song was translated in 1927 by the famous Danish poet Jeppe Aakjær. Much like Robert Burns' use of dialect, Aakjær translated the song into the Danish dialect sallingbomål, a dialect from the northern part of western Jutland, south of the Limfjord, often hard for other Danes to understand. The song Skuld gammel venskab rejn forgo ("Should auld acquantaince be forgot" - Scots / "Should old acquaintance be forgotten" - English), is an integral part of the Danish Højskole tradition, and often associated with more rural areas and old traditions. Also, the former Danish rock group Gasolin modernized the melody in 1974 with their pop ballad Stakkels Jim ("Poor Jim").
   In Pakistan, the tune was played at the formal resignation of President Pervez Musharraf as the country's Chief of Army Staff.
   In the United States, the song is used as a song of remembrance at 9-11 memorials and other memorial events. The University of Virginia's alma mater ("The Good Old Song"), the anthem of Alpha Kappa Psi, Beta Theta Pi's "Parting Song" and Phi Sigma Kappa's "Initiation Hymn" are all sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".
   In India, the melody was the direct inspiration for the popular Bengali song "Purano shei diner kotha" (About the old days) composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, and forms one of the more recognizable tunes in Rabindra Sangeet (Rabindra's Songs), a body of work of 2,230 songs and lyrical poems that form the backbone of Bengali music.
   In Japan, the Japanese students' song Hotaru no hikari ("Glow of a Firefly") uses the "Auld Lang Syne" tune. The words are a series of images of hardships that the industrious student endures in his relentless quest for knowledge, starting with the firefly’s light, which the student uses to keep studying when he's no other light sources. As noted above (under Usage), the melody is also played in many stores shortly before closing time.
   The tune is used for the Dutch football song, Wij houden van Oranje ("We love Orange").
   In France, the melody is used with French words and the parting song is entitled Ce n’est qu’un au revoir ("This is only a goodbye" [for examplea temporary parting, as opposed to a definitive "Farewell"]).
   In Indonesia, the melody is used as a farewell song that's commonly sung during graduation or farewell parties.
   In South Korea, the melody was used for the national anthem, Aegukga, until composer Ahn Eak-tai composed a new melody to the existing lyrics.
   In Italy, this melody is very well known by Italian football supporters since the 1970s. It is often sung in stadiums during the matches, especially after the kick-off. Many Italian supporters of different regions and cities adopted this tune and arranged its lyrics according to their teams. These are the lyrics sung by A.S. Roma supporters: La nostra fede mai morrà/canteremo noì ultrà/e insieme a te saremo allor/forza Roma vinci ancor ("Our faith will never die/we, the ultrà, will sing/then we'll be with you/come on Roma, win again").
   In Spain and in Poland, this tune is used by the Scouts movement for their farewell song at the end of summer camps or just to say goodbye after big events. Polish song under other lyrics is entitled Ogniska już dogasa blask Since 2007, the melody has been used as an introduction to the mass chorus of America the Beautiful that's played by the twelve finalist corps at the Finals Retreat at the Drum Corps International World Championships.

Trivia

The song features prominently - under the name of The Farewell Waltz - in the film Waterloo Bridge (1940), starring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. It is arguably one of the most memorable and best-loved sequences of the film.

The Triad Trilogy Infernal Affairs uses the tune in the second film when a triad has finished killing a gang boss. It also signifies the event of Hong Kong's transfer to China in 1997, with the fictional eradication of many gang bosses.

The American PBS television series Great Performances 2006/7 program titled "Garrison Keillor’s New Year’s Eve Special" had the audience sing an adaptation of the lyrics with a humorous last verse: "I think of all the great, high hearts I'd when I was young / And now who are these sad old farts I find myself among?"

Nobel Laureate Poet Rabindranath Tagore's poem Purano Shei Diner Kotha is traditionally sung in a tune inspired by the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".

The last line of the chorus is frequently mis-sung by crowds and untrained groups as "for the sake of Auld Lang Syne". This is partly because the words themselves are not understood, but also because it has become common practice. It is rarely, if ever, incorrectly performed by trained choirs.

The melody is also featured at the beginning of the Tom Waits song "A Sight For Sore Eyes".

The song is sung in many of the films produced by Frank Capra, including It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

In the Samuel Fuller film The Steel Helmet, the film's main character, Sgt. Zack, requests that the song be played by "Fat Paul" on a portable organ. The group of American soldiers is shocked to find out, after a South Korean boy who has accompanied them recognizes and sings Korean lyrics to the tune, that the melody also serves as the South Korean national anthem.

Dan Fogelberg recorded a hit song called "Same Old Lang Syne", on his 1981 album The Innocent Age. The song was about encountering an old lover not on New Year's Eve, but on Christmas Eve.

In the 1942 re-release of the Charlie Chaplin film The Gold Rush with added sound, the song is sung at a New Year's Eve party. It isn't certain if the same song was sung when the original silent film was released in 1925.

The song is played in When Harry Met Sally, the New Year's party in which Harry states he never fully understood what the song meant and says "I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which isn't possible because we already forgot?"

Cliff Richard sang the Lord's Prayer to the melody of Auld Lang Syne in his Christmas song "The Millennium Prayer".

Sofie Fatale's cell phone ringtone is Auld Lang Syne in the film Kill Bill Volume 1.

IDW Publishing has released a comic story arc using the characters from Joss Whedon's Angel: The Series. This series is called Angel: Auld Lang Syne.

The melody to "Auld Lang Syne" is thought to be a strong candidate for the solution to Sir Edward Elgar's "Enigma"; that is, he said that the theme of his Op. 36 Variations was actually a countermelody to some other well-known tune, but he never revealed what the popular tune was.

Near the end of Ghostbusters II, the people of New York City sing "Auld Lang Syne", which weakens the evil Viggo the Carpathian's power enough to be defeated.

American guitarist Jimi Hendrix played "Auld Lang Syne" as the opening of his second set at the Fillmore East, December 31, 1969-January 1, 1970.

Irish rock group A.E.R use "Auld Lang Syne" as the intro and hook of their song "Time Goes By". The songwriter had the idea of using it while thinking, "What can we do that Jimi Hendrix didn't?" He only found out that Jimi Hendrix actually had performed the song, three days after recording it.

This is the last song sung at every commencement for Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Friedrich Silcher, a German songwriter born at the time when Robert Burns died, translated "Auld Lang Syne" into German ("Soll's alte Herz vergessen sein"), which is probably the best translation of this song into a foreign language.

In both The Poseidon Adventure (film) and Poseidon (film), the ship's singer leads the crowd in singing of "Auld Lang Syne" before the ship is capsized by a rogue wave.

The University Of Virginia's alma mater, "The Good Old Song", is sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".

The song Forever by HURT (band) references "Auld Lang Syne" in its lyrics.

A variation on the melody of the song is heard in the John Phillip Sousa march "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company".

Every year, on his New Year television show, Jools Holland and his rhythm and blues orchestra play "Auld Lang Syne" on the bagpipes and the audience sings along.

In the series The Best Years, Samantha recalls when she played "Auld Lang Syne" on the piano.

Canadian band Barenaked Ladies includes a rendition of the song "Auld Lang Syne" on their 2004 CD Barenaked for the Holidays.

Bobby Darin recorded a Christmas version in 1960, titled "Christmas Auld Lang Syne".

The German band Die Toten Hosen made a cover of this song in 1999.

In the song You're a Grand Old Flag by George M. Cohan, in the chorus, the first line "Should auld acquaintance be forgot" is in it.

The Smiths song "Asleep" features an instrumental version of the song at the end, and during his solo concerts, Morrissey, the singer of The Smiths has included the song at the end of the song "Life is a Pigsty".

On the 1977 recording Ahh... The Name Is Bootsy, Baby! by legendary P-Funk affiliates Bootsy's Rubber Band, the end of the title track features a guitar solo of "Auld Lang Syne" by Bootsy Collins.

Auld Lang Syne is the name of the final level in the videogame

The poem is also sung/covered by Great Big Sea.Further Information

Get more info on 'Auld Lang Syne'.

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