There is one way in which Burns’ lyrics do get consistently altered, but it’s fairly minor: ‘For old Lang Syne, my dear’ is changed from the original ‘For auld Lang Syne, my jo’ (the last word is Scots for ‘sweetheart’). My guess is that not many New Years’ revelers in Times Square sing the words a few bars down: (I’d also point out that ‘Should old acquaintance be forgot’ isn’t Standard English to begin with). This is simply the stanza that most resembles Standard English. In fact, little is translated here from Burns’ original Scots. Why do we sing in English up until those last three words? That it is sung in a semi-obscure relative of English, then, is rather beside the point: Lombardo’s rendition of the tune was instrumental.Ģ.) Why do we translate most of the words of the song into standard English, but not the title? This common misconception arises from the first stanza of the song, which is usually the only one anyone knows: Over the years, I’ve heard the same three questions asked about this tune:ġ.) Why do Americans sing a song in Scots at midnight? The reasons that the song spread are a bit sketchy, but it seems to have been popularized in America by Canadian bandleader Guy Lombardo, who played the song during New Years’ Eve radio shows. The title roughly translates as ‘times long past’ or ‘old times gone’ or other combinations of ‘times,’ ‘old,’ and ‘past.’ Originally penned by Robert Burns (the melody is traditional), the lyrics are in the Scots language (or dialect, depending on your point of view). Last night was New Years’ Eve, which brings about the yearly revival of the song Auld Lang Syne.
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