Auld Lang Syne is the traditional song commonly sung at midnight on New Year's Eve, with lyrics associated with Robert Burns.
The title is Scots for “old long since,” or something like “days gone by.” Burns sent a version of the words to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788, while also indicating that he had heard older traditional lines. The song therefore combines literary adaptation with earlier Scottish folk material.
Its melody became internationally familiar during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In English-speaking countries, people often sing it while linking arms, though customs differ from place to place.
The lyrics are sometimes misheard because Scots vocabulary is unfamiliar to many singers. “Should auld acquaintance be forgot” is a question about remembering old friends, not a statement that they should be forgotten. The song is also used at farewells and other commemorations.