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Auld Lang Syne lyrics: the meaning behind the song (and eight things you didn't know about it)

- © Jack Boskett / Alamy Stock Photo
- © Jack Boskett / Alamy Stock Photo

Every year, on December 31, merrily inebriated people gather to sing the same song, Auld Lang Syne. The fact that few actually know all of the words, let alone their meaning, has rarely stopped anyone from joining in.

However, now is your chance to be well-informed and in tune with these facts about the song:

1. Robert Burns didn't invent Auld Lang Syne as we know it

The Scottish bard wrote many wonderful pieces of original verse, but this was not among them. Instead, he was the first person to write down a much older Scottish folk song. In 1788 he sent a copy of the song to his friend, Mrs Agnes Dunlop, exclaiming: "There is more of the fire of native genius in it than in half a dozen of modern English Bacchanalians!" Five years later he sent it to James Johnson, who was compiling a book of old Scottish songs, The Scottish Musical Museum, with an explanation: "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."

By the time Johnson published it, most likely attributing the verse to the globally known tune, Burns had been dead for a few months.

2. It has global significance...

And not just for five minutes per year. The tune was once used by the Maldives and South Korea for their national anthems, while Japanese department stores play it as a polite reminder for customers to leave at closing time.

3. ...and meaning beyond New Year's Eve

Auld Lang Syne's championing of passing time and goodwill means it is often chosen to mark funerals (like that of Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau), graduations and, as seen in the film It's A Wonderful Life, to celebrate Christmas.

4. The song sung the world over isn't the original tune

Musicologists and folklorists have been debating this one for years. Although it's thought that the tune Burns originally heard is probably now forgotten, the poet did write another song with a very similar melody, called O Can Ye Labour Lea, Young Man.

There is another, reportedly more traditional tune, that Auld Lang Syne is set to. If sources are to be believed, it's the version featured in the Sex and the City film in 2008 and a more haunting, nostalgic and beautiful version of the jaunty singalong everybody is used to. Traditional Scottish folk singers still perform this version, and who can blame them – it's far more refined.

5. It's soundtracked some of the most memorable film scenes ever

In 1972's The Poseidon Adventure, the playing of Auld Lang's Syne was a harbinger of doom: it was during the luxury ship SS Poseidon's December 31 celebrations that a tidal wave capsized the boat. As she begins to sink, you can hear the recognisable tune ringing out. 

Seventeen years later, the song played as one of cinema's best-known couples got together, in When Harry Met Sally. It might not be quite so famous as the film's "I'll have what she's having!" scene, but its charming climax is set against a cocktail-dressed crowd singing along to Auld Lang Syne. After Harry and Sally finally declare their love, Harry ponders the meaning of Auld Lang Syne, and they both decide that...

6. ...It's basically a call to remember old friends as time marches on

We might be concentrating on New Year's Resolutions and finding somebody nearby for a celebratory kiss at midnight, but Auld Lang Syne is a reminder to remember and cherish old friendships, good deeds and toast health and good will for the year ahead. That toast, of course, is better when accompanied by a glass/bottle of champagne.

7. "For Auld Lang Syne" means "for the sake of old times"

That's a rough translation. More literally, Auld Lang Syne means "old long since" or "long long time". Burns didn't invent this particular phrase, however. An anonymous lyric, Auld Kindnes Foryett, has been dated back to the 15th century. Then Auld Lang Syne was used by Burns's poetic predecessors Robert Ayton in the late 16th century, Allan Ramsay in the 17th and James Watson around the same time. More recently, contemporary Scottish poet Matthew Fitt used the phrase as a replacement for "once upon a time". All of which means...

8. You shouldn't sing "for the sake of"

Granted, you probably won't care by this point in the evening, and it will certainly mark you out as a party pooper if you do correct your fellow revellers, but: the final line of the chorus isn't "For the sake of Auld Lang Syne". It's just "For auld lang syne." This is because, as mentioned above, Auld Lang Syne already means "for the sake of old times." But it does fit pleasingly with the tune.

And if you still don't know the lyrics:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 

And never brought to mind? 

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 

And 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.

 

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp! 

And surely I'll be mine! 

And we'll tak a cup o'kindness yet, 

For auld lang syne.

 

We twa hae run about the braes, 

And pou'd the gowans fine;

But we've wander'd mony a weary fit, 

Sin' auld lang syne.

 

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn, 

Frae morning sun till dine; 

But seas between us braid hae roar'd 

Sin' auld lang syne.

 

And there's a hand, my trusty fere! 

And gie's a hand o' thine! 

And we'll tak a right gude-willie waught, 

For auld lang syne.

A few words explained:

If you're not entirely fluent in Scots, here's a helpful glossary:

Pint-stowp: Half an imperial gallon, a generous amount when you're buying a round of drinks.

Braes: Hills

Pou'd: Picked/plucked

Gowans: Daisies

Burn: Brook

Fit: Foot

Fere: Friend

Gude-willie waught: A good-spirited gulp or swig