I am confident that for 67 years I have heard this sung, several times per year, but especially at New Years. It wasn’t until my 67th year of hearing that I understood what I had been participating in because, I was curious, and Google is so convenient. I suspect many of you are in the same boat of ignorance.

I always thought it was a song about remembering your friends and good times. The phrase “Auld Lang Syne” literally translates “Old Long-Since” but in the entirety of the original poem, it seems much more about forgetting and forgiving past hurts and wrongs and remembering the good about people. The song is attributed to Robert Burns who put a 16th century Scottish poem to a traditional dance tune. The first recorded rendition of the poem seems to come from this anonymous ballad from 1568:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never thought upon,
The flames of love extinguished,
And freely past and gone?
Is thy kind heart now grown so cold
In that loving breast of thine,
That thou canst never once reflect
On auld lang syne.

Imagine the blessing we would all incur if we just took that attitude to heart? It’s a great way to start the new year; forgiveness for all past offenses. Happy New Year!