auld lang syne

"Auld Lang Syne" is a song by Robert Burns (1759-1796), although a similar poem by Robert Ayton (1570-1638), as well as older folk songs, use the same phrase, and may well have inspired Burns.

In any case, it is one of the better-known songs in English-speaking countries, and it is often sung at the stroke of midnight on 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 is commonly accompanied by a traditional dance. The group who is singing forms a ring, holding hands for the first verse. For the second verse, arms are crossed and again linked. For the third verse, everyone moves in to the centre of the ring and then out again.

The song's (Scots) title may be translated into English literally as 'old long since', or more idiomatically '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 — IPA: [sain]—not [zain] as many people pronounce it.

Usage

"Auld Lang Syne" is usually sung each year at midnight on New Year's Day (Hogmanay in Scotland) in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, Anglo areas of India, and Canada, and signifies the start of a new year. In the United Kingdom, it is played at the close of the annual Congress (conference) of the Trades Union Congress. Also, in many Burns Clubs, it is sung to end the Burns supper.

In Scotland it is often sung at the end of a céilidh or a dance. It is common practice that everyone joins hands with the person next to him to form a great circle around the dancefloor. At the beginning of the last verse everyone folds his arms across the breast, so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbour on the left and vice versa. During the last chorus people might start jumping up and down. When the tune ends everyone rushes to the middle, while still holding hands. When the circle is reestablished, everyone turns under the arms to end up facing outwards with hands still joined.

It is used as a graduation song and a funeral song in Taiwan, symbolizing an end or a goodbye. In Japan and Hungary, too, it is used in graduation, 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 the Indian Armed Forces, as well as the Pakistani Military, the band plays this song during the passing out parade of the recruits.

In the Philippines, it is 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 is 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 lyrics that are a little different.

It has also been used on other occasions as a farewell. One occasion that falls in this category was in October 2000, when 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 (or possibly Northumbrian) folk melody - probably originally a sprightly dance in a much quicker tempo.

The English composer William Shield seems to quote the Auld Lang Syne melody briefly at the end of the overture to his opera Rosina - this may be its first recorded use. The contention that Burns borrowed the melody from Shield is for various reasons highly unlikely - they may very well both have taken it from a common source, however - 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 is 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 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 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 Jysk, a dialect from the Danish peninsula Jutland, often hard to understand for other Danes. 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 the United States, the song is used as a song of remembrance at 9-1-1 memorials and other memorial events. The most well known memorial version has an added bridge section that was arranged and first recorded by California musician Scott West with Tesla guitarist Frank Hannon. The University of Virginia's alma mater (The Good Old Song), and the anthem of Alpha Kappa Psi, the largest professional business fraternity in the U.S., are both sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

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 has 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 "until we meet again" (not goodbye)").

In Indonesia, the melody is used as a farewell songs which is commonly sing during graduation or farewell party.

In South Korea, the melody was used for the national anthem, Aegukga, until the 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 70's; 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").

Lyrics

As detailed above - "auld lang syne" literally means "old long since" - but a more idiomatic English translation would be something like "long ago", "days of long ago", "in olden days", or even "once upon a time".

The complete lyrics, as Burns wrote them, are as follows -

Burns’ verse above is taken exactly from Songs from Robert Burns, published in Great Britain
by Collins Clear-Type Press in 1947, and sold at Burns’ Cottage.

Most traditional use of the song involves only the first verse and the chorus - with the last line changed to "and days of auld lang syne". See the external links for this article for discussion of this, and other lyrical variations.

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 very fashionable to claim that one's own work was "traditional"; therefore one should take Burns' statement with mild skepticism. Even if some lines of the lyrics were indeed "collected" rather than composed by the poet, it is a fair supposition to attribute the poem as a whole to Burns himself.

There is some doubt as to whether the tune used today is the same one Burns originally intended; but the melody itself is traditional in the purest sense of the word.

Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Day very quickly became a Scots custom, which soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (not to mention other Britons) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.

Bandleader 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, and besides his live broadcasts, he recorded the song more than once, the 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 [Mass.]… 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. — The New York Times, 1896-01-05, p. 10.
• NEW YEAR'S EVE IN LONDON. Usual Customs Observed by People of All Classes… The passing of the old year was celebrated in London much as usual. The Scotch residents gathered outside of St. Paul's Church and sang “Auld Lang Syne” as the last stroke of 12 sounded from the great bell. — Washington Post, 1910-01-02, p. 12.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• The Triad Triliogy 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 97, with the fictional eradication of many gang bosses.
• The American PBS television series Great Performances program titled "Garrison Keillor’s New Year’s Eve Special" 2006/7 had the audience sing an adaptation of the lyrics with a humorous last verse: "I think of all the great, high hearts I had 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 song is sung at the end of the Last Night of the Proms by the audience (rather than the performers). As such it is never listed on the official programme.
• 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.
• Dan Fogelberg recorded a hit song called "Same Old Lang Syne", on his 1981 album The Innocent Age. Interestingly, 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 is not 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 is not 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". Ironically, 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 did, 3 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 language ('Soll's alte Herz vergessen sein') which is probably the best translation of this song into a foreign language.

External links

• Several sets of words and tunes at Digital Tradition
• "Auld Lang Syne" translation into English
• A translation of the words into English
• "Auld Lang Syne" from The Burns Encyclopedia
• Auld Land Syne at the All Music Guide(timeout error)
• "Auld Lang Syne" association with Guy Lombardo and New Year celebrations
• "Auld Lang Syne as sung by Kenneth McKellar (mp3)be-x-old:Auld lang syne

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