WPCNR DAYS GONE BY. From the WPNCR Editorial Advisory Board. January 1, 2007: While the WPCNR Editorial Advisory Board was revelling in the New Year Sunday evening indulging in the decadent New Year's Eve Trifle below, the question came up where does Auld Lang Syne -- the Guy Lombardo "standard" with a melancholy and wistfulness that no other song has to evoke sadness and pleasure simultaneously -- come from?
The White Plains Ball Drops and White Plains Bursts into Auld Lang Syne while the Decadent New Year's Eve Trifle is served.
The Decadent Trifle Was Still Making the rounds of Homes in White Plains on New Year's Day after The Editorial Board's Revelries. Photos, WPCNR PhotoRazzi
After recovering from the Decadent New Year's Eve Trifle, one of the Editorial Board's diligent and thorough researchers tells the story behind auld lang syne:
Number one it is not German as I had originally thought, but Scottish, coming from the pen of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns in the late 18th century. It has been sung in English-speaking countries for over 200 years. Usually accompanied by a traditional dance, the song’s name, Auld Lang Syne, translates in Scots as “old long since” or “long ago” or “days gone by.” “Syne” is pronounced like the English word “sign.”
The melody – not from Guy Lombardo – is according to Wikipedia a pentatonic Scots folk melody, described as a dance in quicker tempo than today’s stately melancholy. The English composer William Shield uses the Auld Lang Syne melody at the end of the overature to his opera Rosina. Wikipedia suggests that Shield and Burns took their melody from Scottish folksongs The Miller’s Wedding or The Miller’s Daughter, while Burns biography claims he based it on Can Ye Labour Yea.
Anyway it has worked its way around the world, sung in Denmark in 1927. It is also the tune to the alma meter of the University of Virginia. In Japan, it is the Japanese students’ song. It is the tune to the South Korean National Anthem.
Here are Robert Burns original lyrics for Auld Lang Syne:
Should auld acquaintance be forget,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
CHORUS
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 coup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
CHORUS
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.
CHORUS
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.
CHORUS
And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gies a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-
Waught
For auld lang syne
CHORUS
The English Translation:
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
CHORUS
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness
Yet,
For auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll buy your pint
Cup!
And surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have run about the hills,
And pulled the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary
Foot,
Since auld lang syne
CHORUS
We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till dine (dinner time)
But seas between us broad have
Roared
Since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
And there’s a hand my trusty
Friend
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will
Draught,
For auld lang syne.
CHORUS
