The New Year's Eve song based on a poem by Robert Burns is “Auld Lang Syne.”
Burns wrote down and adapted the Scots poem in 1788, drawing on older verses and a traditional melody. The title means “old long since,” commonly understood as referring to times long past, old friendships, or memories shared from earlier days.
The song became strongly associated with New Year's celebrations through the work of bandleader Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians. Their radio and later television broadcasts made the performance a familiar part of midnight celebrations in North America during the twentieth century.
“Auld Lang Syne” is not exclusively a New Year's song. It is also sung at farewells, reunions, graduations, funerals, and other transitions. Another common mistake is treating Burns as the sole author of every word and musical element: he preserved and reshaped earlier traditional material rather than inventing the entire tradition from nothing.