Robert Burns wrote the best-known 1788 version of “Auld Lang Syne,” the song widely associated with New Year's Eve.
Burns sent a version of the Scots-language poem to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788, describing it as an old song. The phrase “auld lang syne” means “old long since,” or more naturally, “times gone by.” Its themes include friendship, remembrance, and shared experience.
The melody now commonly used became established later, and arrangements helped spread the song internationally. It is not exclusively a New Year's song: people also sing it at farewells, graduations, memorial events, and other moments of transition.