Auld Lang Syne

I have a song for you to listen to. You know it already because it is sung practically everywhere on New Years Eve. 'It's Auld Land Syne'. This version in the Yu tube link I supply is by a Scottish singer, fitting because the tune is Scottish in origin. Listen now before reading any more of what I write....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acxnmaVTlZA

The first question you might have is "what is that song really about? Well, it is a Scottish poem from the greatest Scottish poet of all, Robert Burns, that was put to lyrics of an old Scottish folk tune. Burns claimed he collected the words in the rural Scottish countryside and modified them for his poem. Since neither you nor I understand the old Scottish dialect, and even the song that we have translated for us incorporates some of that, what is the song speaking about?

The title, if it could be translated word for word, would mean something like " for the sake of long ago times". The Scots started singing Auld Lang Syne at New Years because it romanticizes the good old days and is a way of putting them to rest and focusing of

nthe next "good times" to come. It begins by asking if we should just forget old times and suggests "no", that while we move onward in our lives we should also treasure the good things of the past years. This song spread to other parts of Britain, and when immigration to America and other parts of the world took Scots to those places, the custom of singing it on New Year's Eve at midnight became the norm in most places.

Too, in many countries today the lyrics have been altered to fit new meanings (for example, in Taiwan for funerals; in Hungary as a school graduation song; in Thailand after sporting events etc.), making it truly a ubiquitous tune.

One line that is a bit unique is the "should old acquaintances be forgot". The word 'acquaintance' says more than old family or old friends, rather it speaks about every person ever known, met or thought about. It makes our remembrances broader and admits that people who may pass through our lives even only briefly may be very significant to just and impact our lives deeply and broadly. We remember those as well as the more obvious people who influence us.

So this New Year's Eve do as the song pronounces to "take a cup of kindness", do that for for them as well. Happy New Year!