Free Auld Lang Syne MP3 Download

"Auld Lang Syne" is a poem by Robert Burns, although a similar poem by Robert Ayton (1570-1638), not to mention even older folk songs, use the same phrase, and may well have inspired Burns.

In any case, it is one of the best known songs in English-speaking countries - although, like many other frequently sung songs, the melody is better remembered than the words, which are often sung incorrectly, and seldom in full.

The song is commonly accompanied by a traditional dance. The group who are singing form a ring holding hands for the first verse. For the second verse, arms are crossed and again linked. For the third verse everyone moves in to the centre of the ring and then out again.

The song's name is in Scots, and may be translated literally as 'old long since', or more idiomatically 'long ago', or 'days gone by'. In his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language, Matthew Fitt uses the phrase "In the days of auld lang syne" as the equivalent of "Once upon a time". In Scots Syne is pronounced like the English word sign - IPA: [sajn]-not zine [zajn] as many people pronounce it.

Usage

"Auld Lang Syne" is usually sung each year on New Year's Eve (Hogmanay in Scotland) in the United Kingdom, The Republic of Ireland, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and English speaking Canada at midnight and signifies the start of a new year. In the United Kingdom, it is played at the close of the annual Congress (conference) of the Trades Union Congress. Also, in many Burns Clubs, it is sung to end the Burns supper.

It is used as a graduation song and a funeral song in Taiwan, symbolizing an end or a goodbye. In Japan, too, it is used in graduation, and many stores play it to usher customers out at the end of a business day. Before the composition of Aegukga, the lyrics of Korea's national anthem was sung to the tune of this song. In the Indian Armed Forces the band plays this song during the passing out parade of the recruits.

In the Philippines, it is well known and sung at celebrations like graduations, New Year and Christmas Day. Also, before 1972, it was the tune for the Gaumii salaam anthem of The Maldives (with the current words).

In Portugal, France, Spain and Germany this song is used to mark a farewell. It is also used in the Scout movement for the same purpose, but with lyrics that are a little different.

It has also been used on other occasions as a farewell. One occasion that falls in this category was in October 2000, when the body of former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau left Parliament Hill in Ottawa for the last time, going to Montreal for the state funeral.

The song is also the official corps song for the Kilties drum and bugle corps.

Melody

The tune to which Auld Lang Syne is universally sung is a pentatonic Scots (or possibly Northumbrian) folk melody - probably originally a sprightly dance in a much quicker tempo.

The English composer William Shield, seems to quote the Auld Lang Syne melody briefly at the end of the overture to his opera Rosina - this may be its first recorded use. The contention that Burns borrowed the melody from Shield is for various reasons highly unlikely - they may very well both have taken it from a common source, however - possibly a strathspey called The Miller's Wedding or The Miller's Daughter. The problem is that tunes based on the same set of dance steps necessarily have a similar rhythm, and even a superficial resemblance in melodic shape may cause a very strong apparent similarity in the tune as a whole. For instance, Burns' poem Coming through the rye is sung to a tune that might also be based on the Miller's Wedding. The origin of the tune of God Save the Queen (q.v.) presents a very similar problem, and for just the same reason, as it is also based on a dance measure.

Whatever its source, the Auld Lang Syne tune has been used all over the world in various contexts, for example:

The University of Virginia's alma mater (The Good Old Song), and the anthem of Alpha Kappa Psi, the largest professional business fraternity in the US, are both sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

In Japan, the Japanese students' song Hotaru no hikari (Glow of a Firefly) uses the Auld Lang Syne tune. The words are a series of images of hardships that the industrious student endures in his relentless quest for knowledge, starting with the firefly's light, which the student uses to keep studying when he has no other light sources. As noted above (under usage) the melody is also played in many stores shortly before closing time.

The tune is used for the Dutch football song, Wij houden van Oranje (We love Orange).

In France, the melody is used with French words and the parting song is entitled Ce n'est qu'un au revoir ("This is only goodbye (not farewell)").

In Denmark, the song is known by the Danish 1927 translation of the song entitled Skuld gammel venskab rejn forgo. Also, former Danish Rock group Gasolin popularized the melody in 1974 with their pop ballad Stakkels Jim ("Poor Jim").

In South Korea, the melody was sung as a national anthem, Aegukga until the composer Ahn Ik Tae composed a new melody to the existing lyrics.

Lyrics

As detailed above - "auld lang syne" literally means "old long since" - but a more idiomatic English translation would be something like "long long ago", or "in olden days", or even "once upon a time". The following "translation" leaves the words "auld lang syne" as they are.

The complete lyrics, as Burns wrote them, are as follows -

Burns' verse above is taken exactly from Songs from Robert Burns, published in Great Britain