Guy Lombardo’s orchestra made “Auld Lang Syne” a New Year’s Eve tradition through radio broadcasts. Lombardo and the Royal Canadians played the song at midnight, helping establish its association with the holiday in North America.
The song uses a Scots poem first published by Robert Burns in 1788, although Burns drew on older Scottish verses and traditional material. Its title means “old long since,” or, more naturally, “for old times’ sake.”
Lombardo’s band began broadcasting its New Year program from New York in the 1920s. Repeated radio and later television exposure carried the melody into households that did not necessarily know the Scottish origins of the words.
The song is not an official anthem of New Year’s Eve, and lyrics vary between performances. Its sentimental themes of friendship, memory, and parting explain why it became a natural fit for a midnight transition.