“Auld Lang Syne,” often sung at New Year's Eve, is most closely associated with the Scottish poet Robert Burns.
Burns wrote down and adapted the song's words in 1788, drawing on older Scots verses and a traditional melody. The phrase “auld lang syne” means “old long since,” or more naturally, “days gone by.” The song asks whether old friendships and memories should be forgotten, answering that they should be remembered.
It became internationally linked with New Year's celebrations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Scottish emigrant communities helped spread it, and bandleader Guy Lombardo's annual broadcasts from New York made the song especially familiar to American audiences at midnight.
Burns is therefore credited with the famous literary version, but he did not invent every line or necessarily create the tune. Earlier songs with similar words existed, and different countries sing different verses or arrangements. Its themes of friendship, memory, and farewell explain its enduring place at the turn of the year.