Auld Lang Syne

I've always wondered what the traditional New Year's Eve song “Auld Lang Syne” means and since we just rang in 2008 I thought I would look it up and share it with you all.

Even Harry from When Harry Met Sally wondered about the song...



There are tons of reference sites about the song and it's meaning, but here's the Reader's Digest version...

It is a a traditional Scottish song, customarily sung on New Year's Eve; the title means “Time Long Past.” The words, passed down orally, were recorded by the eighteenth-century poet Robert Burns.

The song begins:
Should auld [old] acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to min'?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!