The words of Auld Lang Syne were collected and written by the legendary Scottish poet Robert Burns based on old folk tunes. Burns is essentially known as the national poet of Scotland and once the words were to set to this tune, it quickly became established as a NYE (or Hogmanay) tradition in his home country being sung by party guests in a circle holding hands
The actual phrase - Auld Lang Syne - had been used by a number of poets before Robbie Burns and was kind of the equivalent of “once upon a time”. The poem is about remembering long-standing friendships and does actually have about 5 verses though we normally only sing one or two. The melody has been used countless times in other compositions such as by Beethoven and Haydn. Even in the WWI it was sung to words of “we’re here because we’re here”. As well as NYE traditions, it is also sung at farewells, funerals and of course on Burns Night in Scotland, celebrating the poets birthday on 25th January. Are you going to be singing this today?!
31 май 2024
