The "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" Story

It was an ordinary day. Reading the newspaper on January 1, 2012. Gonna be hard for a while to remember the 2 instead of the 1 in the year. Always like the first Sunday issue of the paper since they have a few pages of ads from businesses in Lancaster that list the year that they were established. Neat to see when different businesses have started. Another feature in the paper are the top 10 news stories of the past year. Some are from the area while some are national news stories. They also list the top 10 movies, top 10 books both fiction and non-fiction, and top 10 songs of the year. Did notice a story about one of everyone's favorite New Year songs, "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns which was written in the late 1700s. Did you know that is how it is spelled? First verse is:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And days o' old lang syne?

Means should we forget friendships that go way back and never think about them? We seldom hear the other verses which is a shame since they are really neat to listen to. They're a celebration of one childhood friendship that the composer is writing about. Writes about when he and his friend played together in the wild countryside of Scotland. He assures his friend that in spite of passing years, his memories of their friendship have not been forgotten and he raising his glass to toast those times of auld lang syne. So you remember a long ago friend that you would like to remember by singing the song. The rest of the song follows in the English version just in case:

We two once ran about the hills

And pulled wild daisies fine;

We've wandered many a weary step

Since those days so long ago.

We two once paddled in the stream

From break of day till noon;

But seas between us broad have roared,

Since those days so long ago.

And surely I'll have you'll have a drink sometime!

And surely I'll have mine!

We'll drink a glass of kindness yet,

To those days so long ago.

So here's my hand, my trusty friend!

And give me a hand of yours!

We'll truly make a good-will toast,

To those days so long ago.

Oh, those days so long ago, my dear,

Those days so long ago,

We'll share a glass of kindness yet,

For the sake of days so long ago.

The tune we put the lyrics to is not the one that the author wrote, but his publisher thought that the one we are familiar with would work better, so he changed the author's tune. Nice guy! Happy New Year!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.