For Days Gone By: "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns

Christmas bauble for "Auld Lang Syne: photo credit

Everyone knows we play this song at the New Year, but what does "Auld Lang Syne" mean?

The song is by Scottish poet Robert Burns (who also wrote the lines "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley").

The Scottish "auld lang syne" is translated literally "old long since," that is to say "old, old times" or "days gone by."

Take a look at the words in Scottish on Wikipedia.

Freegal has lots of versions of “Auld Lang Syne” available for download.

You can find versions by Barbra Streisand, Drums and Tuba, Banjo Christmas, Guitar Christmas, Romantic Christmas, Washingrton Saxophone Quartet, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (be sure you like bagpipes for this one), Tropical Steel Band, and a Celtic version by Shanon.