Auld Lang Syne

Summary

Auld Lang Syne is the song Burns sent in 1788 to James Johnson for The Scots Musical Museum, a collection of Scottish songs to which he contributed hundreds of texts. He told friends he had taken it down from an old man's singing, and some lines do echo older songs, but the stanzas as we know them are largely his. It was printed in 1796, the year he died, and was later set to the tune now sung around the world. The phrase auld lang syne means old long since, or days long ago. The song opens with two questions: should old acquaintance be forgotten and never brought to mind? The chorus answers by raising a cup of kindness for the sake of old times. The verses that follow are a dialogue of memory between two old friends. They once ran about the hillsides and picked daisies; they paddled in the stream from morning sun till dinner time; but since then they have wandered many a weary foot, and broad seas have roared between them. The last stanza joins hands: here is my hand, my trusty friend, give me a hand of yours, and let us drink a good-will draught for the sake of old times. The song is about friendship surviving time and distance, and it says so without sentimentality, through small physical memories of childhood. It is sung at New Year's Eve, at partings and at reunions in Scotland and far beyond, usually with crossed hands in the last verse. Students should notice that most people sing only the first verse and chorus; the full song gives a fuller picture of two lives that have gone separate ways and come back together, and it rewards being learned whole.

Top Lessons

• Faithful friendship

  The song says old friends should not be forgotten. Remembering is an act of loyalty.

• Time and distance

  Seas have roared between the friends, yet the bond holds.

• Joining hands

  The final verse turns memory into an action: taking hands.

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