Did You Know?
Facts, Figures &
Folklore about About
New Year’s Eve &
New Year’s Day
Dec 31 : New Years Eve
1 Day till New Years Day
Did you know that “Auld Lang Syne” was written in the 1700′s?
The song was written by Robert Burns in Scotland, as a song of remembrance and reflection. The traditional New Year’s song, played on New Year’s Eve at the strike of midnight, was published in 1796 after Burns’ death. “Auld Lang Syne” is Scottish for “old long ago”.
It’s the most commonly sung song for English-speakers on New Year’s Eve. Guy Lombardo, who popularized the piece with his band, first heard the song sung by Scottish immigrants. From 1929-1959 his band played every New Year’s at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, with the first radio broadcast in 1929. The first televised New Year’s celebration with Lombardo’s band was in 1954 and continued until 1976. Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve televised broadcast began on December 31, 1972 to bring in a “younger crowd”, but, kept Lombardo’s rendition of Auld Lang Syne to be the first song played in the new year. For many, not hearing it would make their New Year celebration seem “unofficial,” somehow.
The New Year is a time of friends and family, and parties and fun. A time of fireworks, counting down and rockin’ out with good ol’ Dick Clark (& that Seacrest guy). It’s a time for resolutions, realizations, and a brand new year.