What does auld lang syne mean? Experts explain the letter, origin and permanence of the New Year

As the clock strikes midnight and the world marks the beginning of 2026revelers around the world will sing “Auld Lang Syne,” a song about “the old acquaintance will be forgotten” and, well, other lyrics that people may not remember from the New Year’s song.

The song’s origins date back to an 18th-century Scottish ballad, and “Auld Lang Syne” eventually became a staple of the New Year’s celebration. The experts explained the lyrics, origin and permanence of the song.

What does “auld lang syne” mean?

Roughly translated, the phrase means “a long time ago” or “for old times’ sake.” The song’s title is actually in the Scottish language, which is similar to English, according to Scotland’s national tourist office.

“‘Auld Lang Syne’ can be literally translated as ‘Old Long Since,’ but literal English gives no idea what it means to a user of Scots, where it refers to a shared past that underpins the current relationships of a family, community, or professional/social association,” Professor Murray Pittock, a literary historian at the Robert Burns Center for Studies at the University of Glasgow, told News themezone in 2023. “As such, it is more evocative, nostalgic and community-unifying than any simple English equivalent.”

What are the origins of the song?

Today’s song comes from a publication by Scottish poet Robert Burns. The poet was trying to preserve the Scottish language and culture after Scotland and England formed the United Kingdom, according to Scotland’s national tourist board. So he traveled the country and collected old Scottish poetry and songs, including “Auld Lang Syne.”

“Burns said in one of the letters on display that he heard an old man sing the song and that it had never been in print or handwritten until he wrote it of that old man singing,” said Christine Nelson, who once curated a exposition about the song at the Morgan Library in Manhattan, he told News themezone in 2012.

The song Burns wrote dates back to “Auld Kyndness Forgot,” which was preserved in a manuscript from 1568, Pittock said.

Historians believe that Burns substantially rewrote the words.

“He made no secret of the fact that he was doing what he called ‘repairing’ these old songs,” Nelson said in his 2012 interview. “So they can be released to the public for posterity.”

His words were first published in 1796, according to the Library of Congress. Burns also sent a slightly revised version to a publisher in 1793, but that version was not published until 1799, three years after Burns’ death. The best known set of words for “Auld Lang Syne” is that published in 1799.

Why do we sing the song every New Year’s Eve?

While the song has Scottish roots, its popularity in the United States is due to a Canadian.

Band leader Guy Lombardo popularized it after he and his Royal Canadian Big Band played it on a New Year’s Eve broadcast in 1929. In 1965, Lombardo told LIFE magazine that he came from a part of western Ontario, home to a large Scottish population. In that area, it was traditional for bands to end each dance with “Auld Lang Syne.”

“The main reason Lombardo was identified as the ghost of New Year Past, New Year Present, and New Year Yet to Come, he says, ‘is because Auld Lang Syne is our theme song, and it was long before anyone heard us on the radio,'” LIFE reported.

After Lombardo’s broadcast in 1929, “Auld Lang Syne” became part of popular culture, appearing in “Forrest Gump,” “Sex and the City” and “When Harry Met Sally.”

Harry and Sally even talk about the song, trying to figure out its meaning.

“All my life I don’t know what this song means,” says Harry, played by actor and comedian Billy Crystal, in the 1989 film. “I mean, ‘Should old acquaintances be forgotten?’ Does that mean we should forget old acquaintances or does it mean that if we forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot them?

“Well, maybe it just means we should remember that we forgot them or something,” Meg Ryan’s character Sally responds. “Anyway, these are old friends.”

The U.S. Embassy in Italy may have explained it best in a blog post: “The lyrics of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ ask the question: How do we best remember the memories, friends and experiences of years past? The answer, Burns tells us, is to ‘share a cup of kindness still’ as we move into the new year.”