‘Auld Lang Syne’: Learn Words To New Year’s Eve Song Before 2018 Times Square Ball Drops

Before you start counting down to 2018, you may want to learn the words to the classic New Year’s Eve song, “Auld Lang Syne.” Otherwise, you will have to mumble your way through because you never bothered to learn any of the lyrics past the first stanza of the iconic tune.

And never mind the lyrics, wouldn’t it be nice to learn how to pronounce “Auld Lang Syne” and find out what the words actually mean? There’s a good chance you’re not the only one who has been saying “Old Lang Zine” and wondering, amidst all of the champagne, what the lyrics mean.

Remember the 80s movie, When Harry Met Sally? Even Harry (Billy Crystal) had no idea what the song was about — he rambled on about it after telling Sally (Meg Ryan) he loved her. (video below)

“My whole life, I don’t know what this song means. It means ‘Should old acquaintance be forgot.’ Does that mean we should forget old acquaintances or does it mean that if we should happen to forget them, we should remember them which is not possible because we already forgot?”

Before we usher out 2017 and watch the Times Square Ball drop, take a moment to learn the lyrics to “Auld Lang Syne”, written by Robert Burns in 1788. And we’ll add in a few fun facts about the New Year’s Eve song just in case you run out of things to talk about at your New Year’s Eve party.

Although Burns has been credited with penning the song that started out as a poem, Metro UK states that the lyrics are not all his original work. The original song was around for some 77 years before he put the words together on paper after the words were “dictated by an old man.”

Although the song lyrics go way back, it didn’t become a New Year’s tradition until 1929, when entertainer Guy Lombardo and his band performed the song at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel just as the clock hit midnight.

According to Mental Floss, “Auld Lang Syne” translates to “old long since” or “days of long ago”. And the line in the song “for auld lang syne” basically means, “for (the sake of) old times.” And let’s not forget the line “We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet” — perhaps this means we should share the old time as we ring in the new year with a cup (glass) of champagne?

Whatever the true meaning is, here are the lyrics to what’s known to many as “The New Year’s Eve Song.”

Should auld acquaintance…

A survey claims only 3% of people know the words to Auld Lang Syne

How well do you get on at Hogmanay? pic.twitter.com/pq2qiJurDC

— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) December 28, 2017

Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should all acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne

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 will buy your cup
And surely I’ll buy mine
And we’ll take a cup o’kindness yet
For auld lang syne

We too have run around the slopes
And picked the daisies fine
We’ve londoned many weary foot
Since auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne

We too have paddled in the stream
From morning sun to night
But the seas between us broad have roared
From auld lang syne

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne
We’ll take a cup o’kindness yet
For auld langs syne