A New Year's Anthem

As the magical hour approaches in many towns and cities all over the world each year, the anticipated count down begins; 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 "Happy New Year!!!!", and then in unison people will begin to sing the nostalgic standard made a New Year's Eve tradition by Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians; "Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot and Never Brought to Mind".....how melancholy it makes us feel when we sing "Auld Lang Syne".

There are not many people who have not heard or sang these words at the stroke of midnight on a New Year's Eve somewhere in the world. We sing this song as a closure on the old year reminding us of memories of long ago but it also gives us pause for a renewed hope of love and prosperity in the New Year.

The poem, "Auld Lang Syne", was written by Robert Burns, a Scottish poet and lyricist after he heard an old Scotsman singing it. Robert Burns was the author of many poems and lyrics throughout his lifetime but this particular poem he penned in 1788 has become the custom of ringing in the New Year. He put the words to the tune of an unknown Scottish folk song written long before his time. This song was sung on the eve of "Hogmanay", a Scottish holiday recognized as the ancient pagan practice of celebrating the winter solstice.

The words have changed somewhat throughout time but not the meaning. It reminds people of old friendships along the way and the good and bad times they shared; some long forgotten and others warmly recalled. It is a song that reminds us to reflect on the past by not forgetting old friendships and kindness done to us along the way. Many do not know the lyrics and sing only the first few lines and then hum the rest, but the meaning of Auld Lang Syne is said to mean "long old since" or "days gone by".

One hundred and fourteen years after this poem was written a child was born to immigrant parents in London, Ontario, Canada in 1902. His name was Guy Lombardo and he along with his brothers would grow up and revolutionize this song as the anthem to ring in New Year's Eve around the world. He first heard the song "Auld Lang Syne" from Scottish immigrants in his home town and the words and music had such a profound effect on him that it became one of his regular standards when he and his three brothers formed their first band, a dance band, in 1916. They found minor success in their home town, but they longed for more; so in 1923 the brothers moved to Cleveland, Ohio hoping that the American music market would solidify their dreams. And they were right.

They got their first real opportunity in Chicago in 1927 when Lombardo paid a radio station for a 15 minute broadcast at the Granada Café billing themselves as "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven". During those 15 minutes the switchboards were so jammed and the ballroom overflowed with people wanting to hear this new sound that the broadcast had to be extended into the evening. The band took on the name of Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians.

October 1929 they were booked at the Roosevelt Grill at the Roosevelt Grand Hotel in New York City. On December 31^st the same year there arose a competition between CBS and NBC as to who would broadcast the show. An agreement was reached where CBS would broadcast up until midnight and then NBC would begin at 12:01. It was this night that Guy Lombardo began the much anticipated tradition that we have all come to look forward to and associate with saying goodbye to the old year and ringing in the new year. This tradition continued until 1976 where it was played by Guy Lombardo for the last time at the Waldorf Astoria. He died in 1977.

Even though Guy Lombardo and his band have long been gone, the words and music of "Auld Lang Syne" continues to be played and sung on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight all over the world.

Sources:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/709

http://www.chivalry.com/cantaria/lyrics/auldlang.html

http://www.parabrisas.com/d_lombardog.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne