At the conclusions of the old year after the seconds are
counted down and the stroke of midnight resounds there is always one song: Auld Lang Syne that is loudly sung by people
of all ages, races and creeds to usher in the New Year.
Usually everyone joins hands with the person next to them to
form a great big circle. At the beginning of the last verse, everyone crosses
their arms across their breast, so that the right hand reaches out to the
neighbour on the left and vice versa. When the song ends, everyone rushes to
the centre while still holding hands, shrinking the circle, and then everyone
turns under their arms to end up facing outwards with their hands still joined.
Sounds like loads of fun, right?
Join me by clicking on the Link to sing along the Auld Lang
Syne, as you view seasonal pictures of the last year:
More info about Auld Lang Syne:
Did you know that Auld Lang Syne is actually a Scots poem
written by Robert Burns in 1788? The poem later on was set to the tune of
traditional folk song. From its humble beginnings it was always deemed an
appropriate song for New Year, for it symbolizes “endings and new beginnings”.
It is therefore also sung at graduations, funerals and as a farewell to persons
leaving on a journey. The literal English interpretation of the title “Auld
Lang Syne” can be any one of these: “Old long since” or, more idiomatically, “Long
long ago”, “Days gone by” or “Old times.”
The song begins with a rhetorical question as to whether it is right that
the old times be forgotten, and encourages one to be mindful of long-standing
friendships. In the publication of “Select Songs of Scotland”, by Thomson in
1799, the second verse of “Old Lang Syne” about greeting and toasting, was
moved to its present position at the end.
Robert Burns had sent the 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”. Suffice to say 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 incredible similarity in the first verse
and the chorus to Burn’s later poem, and is almost certainly copied from the
same “old song”. The rest of the poem can be attributed to Burns himself;
however, there is some speculation as to whether the melody widely used in
Scotland and the rest of the world today is the same one Burns had originally used.
One thing is for certain it is a very contagious song. The song sang on
Hogmanay or New Year’s Eve quickly became a Scots custom that soon spread like
wildfire to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots, including English,
Irish and Welsh immigrants, settled around the world they took with them this old
tradition. In America, the Canadian band leader Guy Lombardo in 1929 used it in
his New Year’s Eve celebrations through his annual broadcasts on radio and
television. The song soon became his trademark and the rest, as they say, is
history.
Lyrics:
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
And days of auld lang syne, my dear,
And days of auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
We twa hae run aboot the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine.
We've wandered mony a weary foot,
Sin' days of auld lang syne.
Sin' days of auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin' days of auld lang syne,
We've wandered mony a weary foot,
Sin' days of auld ang syne.
We twa hae sported i' the burn,
From morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' days of auld lang syne.
Sin' days of auld lang syne, my dear,
Sin' days of auld lang syne.
But seas between us braid hae roared
Sin' days of auld lang syne.
And ther's a hand, my trusty friend,
And gie's a hand o' thine;
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
(c) 2000 McGuinn Music / Roger McGuinn
Folk Den Songs by Roger McGuinn is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
United States License.
Happy
New Year Everyone; Wishing you all a healthy, joyous and prosperous 2013.
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