Auld Lang Syne

We're going to play a round of "finish the song." Ready?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot...     YOUR TURN

Not many people can get through the first verse of this traditional new year's song, which is why most parties have replaced it with a simple, boisterous "HAPPY NEW YEAR." Being the geek that I am, I had to look it up. I mean, what is a "syne" anyways?

Auld Lang Syne was first used in a Scottish poem about a long lost love. [Side note, the poem is amazing - words here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne ] Translated, it means "old long since," or what we would call the good old days. Eventually, the term birthed a song about having a drink to remember the old times - "Surely you will buy your pint and surely I'll buy mine and we'll have a cup o' kindness yet for the sake of auld lang syne."

Interestingly enough, the song was traditionally sung at the end of a momentous event, not at the beginning. Then... why do we sing it after the stroke of midnight?

I think it symbolizes that you can't begin anything new without first remembering where you've been. Acknowledging that you owe your future to your past. That it's over, but still an important and continuing part of life. Allowing yourself to be enlightened, not condemned, by what has come before - and letting it guide you through what will come next.

So take a cup of kindness yet. What auld lang syne from last year will carry you through this year?