Auld Lang WHAT?

It's that time of year when you hear this tune, especially today, New Year's Eve. 

Why it it typically heard only then. What does it mean?

We're not New Year’s Eve celebrants. Our get together will be at home watching movies that include New Year's Eve festivities and some include this tune — Auld Lang Syne. 

And, like us, you may not be the only one(s) curious about its history. Some may recall this exchange in the final scene of the 1989 rom-com film, When Harry Met Sally. It's when Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, as Harry and Sally, reunite at yet another New Year's Eve party.

Harry: [about Auld Lang Syne] What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'. Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances? Or does it mean that if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot 'em?

Sally: Well, maybe it just means that... we should remember that we forgot them, or something. Anyway, it's about old friends.

It’s a classic film and a wonderful way to spend New Year’s Eve. It's on our watch list along with An Affair to Remember. 

Fellow blogger David G. asked what makes a movie a classic and who decides and also what makes a film epic? So, of course, I did some research, there's a lot more info online.

According to some critics, criteria for what makes a movie classic or epic varies and can be a matter of personal opinion. A Classic film is considered one that has passed the test of time with lasting power over the years and decades (Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane). These films often deal in emotional issues that people identify with, no matter how much time has elapsed; many contain lines that are remembered and quoted. An Epic film (Ben Hur, Star Wars) typically include spectacular settings, specially designed costumes, perhaps a sweeping musical score and ensemble cast. These are considered the most expensive films to produce. 

About Auld Lang Syne

Robert Burns

Credited to Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, this oft-sung tune is set to a traditional Scottish folk melody. Burns never claimed the song as his own. In the latter years of his short life (he died aged 37), Burns had become an avid collector of Scottish folk songs and ballads. He described the words to the now classic tune as having been taken from fragments of a tune sung by a "old man." In collecting and writing songs to provide words for traditional Scottish airs, Burns regarded his efforts as service to Scotland. He never claimed Auld Lang Syne, which he described simply as an old fragment he had discovered.

In 1788, Burns transcribed and embellished the lowland song, but the poem didn't appear in print until shortly after his death in 1796. It's since become a timeless classic in the English-speaking world. Every year it's the tradition tune ringing in the New Year; sung, but not fully understood, by party goers worldwide.

The title, translated literally into standard English, is Old Long Since, which loosely translated from Scotish means ‘in remembrance of old times. The words have been interpreted as since long ago or for old times’ sake. The lyrics tell a tale of old friends who have parted and then meet again celebrating their long friendship with a drink. They reminisce and recall adventures and memories from long ago. Ironically, there is no specific reference to the New Year.

Guy Lombardo 

As Scots immigrated around the world, they took the song with them, and it's believed that's how it became known worldwide. 

The version sung today was popularized by Canadian bandleader Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians band. Their performance of Auld Lang Syne was broadcast nationally from the Roosevelt Grill in NYC every New Year’s Eve from 1929 to 1976. Variety named Lombardo the only Canadian to create an American tradition and Life wrote that if Lombardo failed to play it, the American public would not believe that a New Year had arrived.

Additionally, the song was used in films as early as the 1920s. As our plans include watching movies that include New Year's Eve, this post has a New Year's Eve Trivia Quiz

Spoiler Alert — this quiz is a bit harder than the Christmas song trivia quiz earlier. It's all fun, no prizes, just braggin' rights. Answers below, you can see how well you fared (no peeking).

Movie Trivia — New Year's Eve 

1. What movie and its sequel (starring Renée Zellweger) begins and ends on New Year's Eve, both times with a blank diary? 

2. What 1972 disaster movie involved a luxury cruise ship capsized by a rogue wave on New Year's Eve? 

3. What 1936 film had a married couple, based on characters by Dashiell Hammett, who wind up solving a mystery on New Year's Eve? What were their names and who played them?

4. What film has a woman seemingly stop aging beyond 29? She attends various New Year's Eve parties throughout the years; January 1 is her birthday in the film. 

5. This 1957 classic had two main characters (Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) engaged to others, kiss on New Year's Eve and agree to meet up six months later atop the Empire State Building. Years later, it inspired a 1993 film with a similar theme that referenced this one. (Bonus points if you name both films.)

6. The plot of this Sandra Bullock rom-com begins on Christmas Day, and reaches a climax on New Year's Eve.

7. What classic musical film celebrates every holiday, including New Year's Eve? (Hint, it's the one in which White Christmas was introduced.)

8. This 1995 movie has a female cast that included Whitney Houston and Angela Basset. It starts and ends on New Year's Eve and follows four women dealing with deal with love, life, and friendship over the year.

9. This rom-com film features two women (played by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) who  find love when least expected. Considered a holiday film, the final New Year's Eve is one of the movie's best parts (and a favorite of ours).

10. Both the 1960 and later 2001 remake of this film involve a casino heist on New Year's Eve.

11. This classic silent film starring Charlie Chaplin included a New Year's Eve party. Starring as The Lone Prospector who welcomes in the New Year by sitting on the streets alone listening as excited crowds sing Auld Lang Syne at a party.

12. The 1989 sequel of this popular film is partially set on a New Year's Eve when NYC citizens come together and sing Auld Lang Syne to banish evil from the city. 

13.This comedy (1983) starring Eddie Murphy spans Thanksgiving to year end. One of the film's crucial scenes happens on a train during a New Year's Eve party. (Hint: it involves switched identities between Murphy and Dan Ackroyd.)

14. A Christmas movie classic has the entire town singing a tune usually associated with New Year at the movie's end. (Hint: think Bedford Falls.)

15. This 2011 film wasn't a box office hit, but has a large ensemble cast and a title that befits the evening. It was entirely shot in NYC and directed by Garry Marshall and features stories of a number of New Yorkers on the celebrated night.  

16. This film, set in a fictional CA hotel, has interlocking tales that occur on New Year's Eve. A bellhop in his first night on the job has four different encounters. (Actor Bruce Willis is uncredited. He violated SAG (Screen Actors Guild) rules by acting free as a favor to director Quentin Tarantino. SAG agreed not to sue Willis if his name was omitted from the credits.)

Movie Trivia Answers

1. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001 and 2004), 2. The Poseidon Adventure, 3. After the Thin Man (Nick & Nora Charles, played by William Powell & Myrna Loy), 4. The Age of Adaline (2015), 5. An Affair to Remember, Sleepless in Seattle, 6. While You Were Sleeping (1995), 7. Holiday Inn (1942), 8. Waiting to Exhale, 9. The Holiday, 10. Oceans 11 (1960 and 2001), 11. The Gold Rush (1925), 12. Ghostbusters II (1989), 13. Trading Places (1983), 14. It's a Wonderful Life (1946), 15. New Year's Eve (2011), 16. Four Rooms (1995)

How did you do and are you planning to watch any films this weekend?

🎉Best wishes to Everyone for 2024🎊 

Thanks from Patrick (aka Grenville) for your comments regarding the New England village. He appreciated all and wanted to share that it will remain through mid-February should anyone be in Nashua, NH, and want to see it.