Guy Lombardo's band made “Auld Lang Syne” a New Year's Eve standard in the United States through its annual broadcasts.
Lombardo and the Royal Canadians played the song during their New Year's Eve radio broadcasts, helping establish it as the familiar soundtrack for midnight celebrations across the country. The band began broadcasting its New Year's program in the 1920s, and the association became especially strong during the following decades.
The song uses words adapted from a 1788 poem by Robert Burns and is sung to a traditional melody. Its title is Scots for “old long since,” commonly understood as referring to times long past or old friendships.
The song is not exclusively American: it is used for year-end gatherings in many countries. Nor is every performance a complete rendition of Burns's poem; modern celebrations often use only selected verses.