Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" is a poem by Robert Burns, although a similar poem by Robert Ayton (1570-1638), not to mention even older folk songs, use the same phrase, and may well have inspired Burns.
In any case, it is one of the best known songs in English-speaking countries - although, 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 are singing form 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 name is in Scots, and may be translated 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: [saɪn]—not [zaɪn] as many people pronounce it.
Usage
"Auld Lang Syne" is usually sung each year on New Year's Eve (Hogmanay in Scotland) in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and English speaking Canada at midnight 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.
It is used as a graduation song and a funeral song in Taiwan, symbolizing an end or a goodbye. In Japan, too, it is used in graduation, and many stores 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 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 Portugal, France, Spain 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.
Whatever its source, the Auld Lang Syne tune has been used all over the world in various contexts, for example:
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 goodbye (not farewell)").
In Denmark, the song is known by the Danish 1927 translation of the song entitled Skuld gammel venskab rejn forgo. Also, former Danish Rock group Gasolin popularized the melody in 1974 with their pop ballad Stakkels Jim ("Poor Jim").
In South Korea, the melody was sung as a national anthem, Aegukga until the composer Ahn Ik Tae composed a new melody to the existing lyrics.
Lyrics
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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: Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
We twa hae run about the braes,
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
|
Pronunciation guide: Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
An sheerly yil bee yur pynt-staup !
We twa hae rin aboot the braes,
We twa hae pedilt in the burn,
An thers a han, my trustee feer !
|
Anglicized translation: Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
We two have run about the hills,
We two have paddled in the stream,
And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
|
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" and one should probably take Burns' statement with a pinch of salt, and 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 if the tune used today is the same one Burns originally intended - but no doubt 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. However, he most certainly did not invent or first introduce the custom, even there. The ProQuest newspaper archive has articles going back to 1896 that describe revellers on both sides of the Atlantic singing the song to usher in the New Year. Two examples:
- 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.
The song is sung in a famous scene at the end of It's a Wonderful Life, a movie traditionally shown during the weeks before Christmas in America.
Trivia
- The melody of the song is used as the fight song for the University of Virginia.
External links
