What is the traditional New Year’s Eve song whose title means “days gone by” in English?

“Auld Lang Syne” is the traditional New Year’s Eve song whose title means “days gone by.”

The phrase is Scots and is commonly translated as “old long since” or “for old times’ sake.” The song is associated with Scottish poet Robert Burns, who sent a version of the lyrics to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788. Burns drew on older Scots words and song traditions rather than necessarily creating every line from nothing.

The familiar melody became internationally popular during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is now commonly sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve in many English-speaking countries and elsewhere, often while people link arms or raise glasses.

The song is not exclusively a New Year anthem. It can also appear at farewells, funerals, graduations, and other moments of remembrance. “Auld Lang Syne” is sometimes misheard as “Old Lang Sign,” but the correct title preserves the Scots spelling and pronunciation.