For years I mispronounced the title of the song we sing on New Year’s Eve, which some call the year-end anthem. It’s pretty easy to mispronounce words that we misspell. And misspellings often occur because of slight differences in sound, unusual spellings, or due to a word’s foreign origin.
I’ll say Auld Lang Syne has an unusual spelling, and the phrase isn’t English—it’s Scottish.
The Cambridge Dictionary pronunciation of Auld Lang Syne in the English language is ɔːld læŋ ˈsaɪn/.
Yep, there’s an S instead of a Z in Syne.
People not only misspell the song’s title, but many know one verse or less of the lyrics. But this isn’t a problem on the eve of the dawning of a new year. The tune’s familiarity makes Auld Lang Syne the perfect song for lip-syncing.
Auld Lang Syne remains the top song for revelers and other sentimentalists to mark the end or farewell of a period or occasion. At 12 A.M. on New Year’s Eve, it is enthusiastically hummed by those who don’t know the words and robustly caroled by those who do.
Oh, me? I belt out the first verse and ease off the pedal for the rest of the song. While others are singing the second verse, I’m in a soft refrain of the first verse until the end.
Old long since, days gone by, long, long ago, times long past, old times, and for the sake of old times are a few translations of Auld Lang Syne.
Robert Burns, the national poet of Scottland, wrote the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne, or did he?
According to Wikipedia, Robert Burns collected or didn’t compose some of the song’s lyrics. And here’s what Burns had to say about the song when he submitted it to the Scots Musical Museum:
“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.”[
Guy Lombardo and his orchestra started a tradition of singing the song every New Year’s Eve from 1929 to 1977. Singing Auld Lang Syne on the eve of the new year is an American tradition with bubbly stuff in hand and loved ones and friends huggably near.
I’ve always considered Auld lang syne a bitter-sweet song because saying or bidding goodbye can be a happy and sad occasion. I don’t remember singing this song at my high school or college graduation party, but those are fitting occasions to do so.
Is Auld Lang Syne a proper song for funerals? I guess it could be.
The following is the first verse:
Should auld (old) acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld {old) acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld (old) lang syne?
New acquaintances eventually become old acquaintances but not without shared times and experiences.
So, what about the question that Robert Burns poses?
Should we forget the people, times, and experiences of our past?
Maybe the question is: how to best keep in tack and touch with the good things of the past? How to remember and honor the times and those who are no longer near or with us?
When the clock strikes midnight, the strings and things of the past aren’t cut or burned; they’re still a part of us in the new year.
Maybe the question is: how can we best utilize the experiences of the past to ensure a prosperous new year and future with loved ones and friends?
Burns’ answer is: “We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne.
A spoon, glass, plate, cup of kindness, or gratitude and gratefulness go a long way to honor the present and the days, months, and years of the past—for old times’ sake.
I guess everyone has to answer the question for themselves.
Have a great New Year!
Be well.