"Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne
For auld lang syne... "
i'm sure every literate person in this world is familiar wif this song and has probably sung it during new year's for most of their lives; but how many people actually KNOW that it was originally composed & written by the scottish poet Robert Burns waaaaaaayyy back in 1788?? well, the song has indeed transcended the boundaries of time and remains to be a staple even today. Isnt that so awesome??? LOL
"auld lang syne" literally means "old long ago" when translated from the old scottish dialect and i'm certain that evry tom, dick or harry is roughly aware of this. However, i have never really paid attention to the actual lyrics of the song nor have i ever attributed any significance to those words set to a lugubrious tune until today. It is a song about friendship; about remembering the past and celebrating the future. And thus, the phrase "auld lang syne" encapsulates for the common man, all the intrinsic elements of new year's eve...
in my most sardonic moments, i brush aside new year's eve as just another day on the calender; it's the time of the year which people use as an excuse to get together, to throw lavish parties, get inebriated and become involved in decadent merry-making. at times, i'm even disgusted by it. Almost everybody wants to be somewhere on new year's eve; a somewhere you can put your social skills to the test, sipping at your wine while counting down those minutes on the clock. Yes, i believed that this was all a facade of the cosmopolitan singaporean... a pathetic effort to emulate a coveted western culture.
however, that's just my pessimistic alter ego talking. What auld lang syne means to me, i cant really put down into words... to be surrounded by friends who have touched your lives in one way or another and to see in their reassuring eyes that the friendship has been worth it no matter the shit we've been through in the past; that no matter what happens in the years to come, we shall always have each other; That is the most important thing to me. (yep; i can be sickeningly maudlin when i want to be but this is the veritable truth. ;p )
a number of people have asked me about my new year's resolution. Actually, every year, it has remained the same; I hope to be a better person; to be wiser and to be kinder. May god open my heart & protect those whom I love. Amen.
