How Auld Lang Syne took over the world

If that was the Rolling Stones, he'd have you in court, wouldn't he?

Every December 31st, millions and millions of people

around the world raise their voices in a chorus of Auld Lang Syne.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

# Never BROCCHHT tae mind... #

How did a simple Scottish folk song

with words most people scarcely understand or get right...

Something about a cup?

# La-la-la... #

..become one of the world's most popular?

Tonight, we are going to chart

Auld Lang Syne's rise to global dominance.

This is a song that Scotland's given to the world.

Hoots, man, it's Scotland, it's New Year!

ACCORDION MUSIC PLAYS

I'm Scottish, right?!

We'll see how Hollywood played its part in spreading the word...

It's so cheesy and schmaltzy, it's got to be Auld Lang Syne.

What does this song mean?

My whole life, I don't know what this song means.

..and listen to its many incarnations.

# And surely, I'll buy mine... #

The good...

# Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind... #

..and the not so good.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

# And never brought to mind... #

We'll tackle the words... We'll tak a richt gude-willy waught.

It's very hard to think of anything that isn't sexual.

..and get to grips with the movements.

There is no handholding, there is nothing done,

don't get aff your chair!

Is it that, or is it that?

Wooft!

No, not yet! It's all getting confused, what's going on?

It's a wee thoughtful moment in a night of mayhem and enjoyment.

But before all that, we have to get back to the very roots of this

global phenomenon, to where it all began, the birthplace,

the seed from which world domination would sprout.

The fertile land that nurtured Scotland's most famous son,

and top tatties, the golf course, the Sunshine State, Ayrshire -

the home of Rabbie Burns.

Because without him,

we wouldn't have Auld Lang Syne.

For it was the ploughman poet

that gave us our song.

'In this cottage at Alloway was born Robert Burns,

'greatest of Scottish poets.'

There is a part of the Scottish psyche and soul that is

hugely creative and poetic, and Burns typifies that, for me.

'His poems have bound Scotsmen together

'all over the world, in revered admiration.'

He obviously liked a swally and he obviously liked the birds

and he obviously liked a party, so he seems real.

THEY SING MERRILY

He kind of epitomises an early rock star,

he's touring, he's oot there

with the birds and the booze and the boys, an' that.

We all knew about Robert Burns, we are all very proud of Robert Burns,

and Auld Lang Syne was probably one of the few things

we could all recite immediately, because we'd heard it so often.

Roy, which Scottish poet wrote the words to Old Lang Syne?

Robbie Burns. Correct.

People know about Burns,

but what do they really know about Auld Lang Syne?

Perhaps we should confine our casual conversation to

the subject of your recent poem, Auld Lang Zyne.

Syne. Syne.

Genuinely, I thought Auld Lang Syne was referring to a person

called Syne, who was old and tall.

In music, the title of which seasonal song

is Scottish dialect for "Old long since"?

Maybe at New Year, this old man called Lang Syne

lived on his own, and you took a cup of kindness round to him.

"We'll take a cup of kindness yet" is a recurring line in which song?

It's like a recipe for tablet or the taste for Irn Bru,

it's sort of buried deep within our kind of DNA.

I know it's maybe not nice to say this,

but I think it's a bit of a dirge.

BELL TOLLS

HE PLAYS AULD LANG SYNE ON THE VIOLIN

Poor Burns - no royalties, no nothing!

Everybody is singing his songs!

If that was the Rolling Stones, he'd have you in court, wouldn't he?

'As officers linked arms, struggling to keep the gateway clear,

'the pickets' response was witty and mocking.'

# For auld lang syne, my dear... #

Er...I think I'm going to go for Early One Morning.

Auld Lang Syne means the party's over, it's time to go home.

'Cheer up, Fred! How about some music?

'To take over the world, a song needs to have a good tune.'

# For auld lang syne, my jo

# For auld lang syne... #

This is the original Burns Auld Lang Syne,

performed beautifully by Mairi Campbell.

The Clintons and Sean Connery approve,

but Burns didn't care for the music, describing it as "mediocre".

And therefore, the song quite literally changed its tune.

To take over the world, as Sir Sean perfectly illustrates,

you need a bit of a crowd-pleasing number.

Get the masses on their feet and get them singing!

Join me with 75,000 people here in Edinburgh, and thousands more

across the country, for our own song of friendship, Auld Lang Syne.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

It was three years after Burns' death that

Auld Lang Syne as we know it appears in print for the first time.

George Thomson, an Edinburgh-based publisher,

brought the words and music together

in his Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs of 1799.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,

and for Auld Lang Syne,

there have been hundreds upon hundreds of covers and variations.

Cue the music.

# Should old acquaintance... #

# Be forgot... #

# And never brought to mind... #

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

# And days of auld lang syne... #

It's such a simple tune, it is ultimately very adaptable.

# Should auld acquaintance be forgot

# And never brought to mind... # Oh!

It's probably the most covered song of all time, and it's

probably had some of the most atrocious versions ever done of it.

I've got a sneaking regard for Chas and Dave.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind... #

Huge Chas and Dave fan.

That's a lie.

It gives absolutely no quarter to the sentimental side,

it's just knees up, here we go, let's have a bloody good time!

It's quite rousing.

I could feel myself kind of thinking,

"Will I do the Lambeth Walk to this?

"Will I eat jellied eels?

"Or just turn it off?"

I turned it off.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

When you see, like, Mariah Carey...

# And never brought to mind... #

Scottish people just go, "Aagh!"

# Five, four, three, two... #

We don't like it being messed with.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind... #

I think, when it's a classic song like that,

unless you can do something really, really wonderful with it...

# For old lang syne, my dear... #

..then leave it alone!

Happy New Year!

As far as I'm concerned, Cliff Richard can do whatever he wants.

# Our Father, who art in heaven

# Hallowed be thy name... #

Yes, yes, I think you could see Cliff as a pioneer,

boldly going where no singer had gone before.

# Our Father, who art in heaven

# Hallowed be thy name... #

It's amazing to me that no-one ever thought of putting other

lyrics to that, to that melody.

Mind you, I hadn't thought of it.

And then he sang it, and the world knew why no-one had done it before.

I don't know why, then, he didn't, you know,

take Stairway To Heaven and sing it to the tune of EastEnders,

because that would work just as well, wouldn't it?

It doesn't fit. It doesn't properly fit the tune.

# Our Father... #

# Our Father, who art in h'en... #

# Hallowed be thy name... #

You're left with one leg up in the air, or one arm up in the air at the end of that line,

and he's got to squeeze a couple of words in,

it's too hard to get them in, it doesn't quite work for me.

# Amen, amen, amen... #

People found it offensive!

Thank you, but it's not over!

# Amen, amen... #

DJs seemed to find it so controversial that some of them refused to play it.

# Amen, amen, amen... #

INTERVIEWER: Did you play it?

No. HE LAUGHS

'It made it all the sweeter for me that in spite of the opposition,'

we did it.

Me and Auld Lang Syne, we got on really well!

# Sing amen... #

I'd do it again. Is there another old, traditional

Scottish song that I can do something with? I don't know.

# ..I'll buy mine

# We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet... #

What I love is when somebody really, really understands the lyric

and understands what they are singing about.

And the one person that I think is

the best in the world at singing Auld Lang Syne is Eddi Reader.

# It's got to be-e-e-e-e perfect... #

'Well, Tom, funnily enough, that's exactly who I'm off to see.

'Hitting the right note, Eddi's version taps into the very

'essence of Auld Lang Syne's universal appeal.'

I think it is actually impossible to kind of listen to this song,

or to sing this song, without getting some of the emotion.

I'm a middle-aged Scottish man, I'm emotionally, you know, bereft,

but when this song comes on, it kind of turns the key

and opens up the floodgates, you know? Yeah, why does it do that?

But your version is the one that absolutely...

That kills you, does it?

Oh, yeah. The key goes in the lock, and it's like...

In fact, at this point, I'm just going to stop!

# Should auld... #

So, it stops there.

# Should auld acquaintance be forgot

# And never brought tae mind

# Should auld acquaintance... #

You're still up there...

# ..Be forgot

# And the days of auld lang syne... #

And I think with that one, you're just...

you're left in that hanging kind of place, with that.

Whereas, the other one gives you a little bit of comfort,

a little bit of a hand on your shoulder.

That version, it stays in the melancholic place, you know,

it's all about the days gone by, it's all about the people

gone by, and it stays there and it kind of celebrates that.

The most important thing about the song, for me,

anyway, apart from where it came from or the different versions,

is that the verse, "Here's a hand, my trusty fiere" - my friend -

"And gies a haund o' thine" - or give us a hand of thine -

I sometimes sing, "Gies a HAUD o' thine,"

because I like that, it's like grabbing somebody.

Yeah, and all about the importance of friendship and belonging

and fellowship and all that thing.

Yeah, but the actual physical act of going, "Gimme yer haund!" Exactly.

And then, everybody does it.

And I don't know one song on the whole planet

that makes people do that.

I actually hadn't thought about that bit, I hadn't thought about a song that makes you...

Hold each other. Hold each other.

Phil Cunningham says to me, "Did you hear about the Scotsman

"who loved his wife so much, he nearly telt her?"

So it's quite a difficult thing for us to do that, to hold each other.

Yeah, it is. And that song made us do it. Clever man!

'Yes, I did have a tear in my eye.'

I cannae handle it!

'OK, enough already.'

# Should auld acquaintance be forgot

# And never brought... #

Now, for Auld Lang Syne to take over the world,

we know it needs a catchy tune.

But it also needs to have lyrics that everyone knows, right?

Well, yes and no.

I don't think you could find anybody that could sing more than the first verse.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot

# And never... Something, something, something... #

# Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind...

# Da-da-da-da-da... For auld lang syne! #

Should auld acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne...

So, here's a... Oh, no.

We twa...

Oh, no!

# For auld lang syne... #

It's usually two or three lines that we keep repeating, isn't it?

# For auld lang syne... #

What does auld lang syne mean?

"Lang", maybe long. "Syne", time?

Long time, old long times, don't know.

# And auld lang syne... #

Then you've got the argument, because it should be, "For auld lang syne."

But people sing, "For THE SAKE OF..." and you get dirty looks if you do that.

# For the sake of auld lang syne. #

STEPHEN FRY: Full points, spot-on!

If you're a Burns aficionado, which I'm not,

apparently they'll shoot you if you do that.

# For auld lang syne... #

My grandfather used to get incandescent with rage

if anybody on TV said "zyne" instead of "syne".

Auld lang zyne. Syne. Syne.

It really annoys me. And it shouldn't, but I don't like it.

As long as you hit auld lang "zyne", you'll be fine.

# Auld lang zyne... #

Something also about Burns saying,

"You'll buy your pint and I'll buy mine"?

# And surely I'll buy mine... #

"Aye, we'll get together... You can buy your own drink, by the way!"

# We twa hae run aboot the braes... #

"Twa" sounds like "three" to me, cos it's like French, right?

"We twa," then it's like, why's there three people cutting about?

What are they up to, doon at the braes?

# And here's a hand, my trusty fiere... #

"Here's a haun, my trusty fiere, and gies a haun o' thine,"

it does something, you can actually feel it in here.

# We'll tak a right gude-willy waught, for auld lang syne. #

"We'll tak a right gude-willy waught, for auld lang syne."

Er...

What is that?

That "willy waught", that was funny, when we were at school.

"Gude-willy waught"...

It's very hard to think of anything that isn't sexual.

A willy waught is a decent drink.

It could be whisky, it could be just a pint, it could be...

A good old drink, for the sake of auld lang syne.

# But we've wandered mony a weary foot, sin auld lang syne... #

When you look at the lines and you read them properly,

it just brings the colour of the song and the words just come

to life in your mind, and it's a good thing to do.

OK, so we've got the music and the lyrics, but as any band

will know, to get a hit, you've got to take your song on the road.

And for Auld Lang Syne, it was no different.

The Scots have a long history of leaving home for pastures new, and

from the end of the 18th century, Auld Lang Syne travelled with them.

The song's sentiment of friendship, family

and a good dose of melancholy stayed in the hearts of the Scottish

diaspora, becoming stronger and more rooted as they became

part of the fabric of the countries they settled in.

One destination vital to our song's global domination was

the good old US of A.

ROCK GUITAR SOLO TO TUNE OF AULD LANG SYNE

The Scots just couldn't get enough of the Land of the Free.

They played their part in its establishment -

half the signatories of the Declaration of Independence

were Scottish, or of Scottish descent -

the Scots fought in its wars, and with them came their music.

Well, I've come to New York to meet a couple of fellas,

to get an insight into what impact our Celtic contingent,

and that song, had on America.

Taxi!

One example of Auld Lang Syne's influence in America is

through its role in times of conflict.

Military historian Bobby Wintermute has some fascinating insights.

Tell me a bit about the importance

of Auld Lang Syne during the Civil War.

Because that was a song that was, as I understand it, around

very much at that time and very much on the conscience of people.

Oh, yes, very much so.

And the Union tries to discourage, if not outright ban, the song.

Because, of course, the sentiments of returning home,

of reconciliation, were very sensitive.

So, they banned Auld Lang Syne?

They tried to restrain it, they tried to restrict it.

But then, conversely, after the signing of the surrender terms,

General Grant orders the band to play Auld Lang Syne,

recognising that the country, and that they themselves,

had been through a tremendous upheaval,

and that now was the time for healing.

It's incredible he would choose that song, though... Oh, yes.

..given that there were plenty of other songs around at that time.

Many others, but Auld Lang Syne had become, by this point,

almost part of the American songbook.

It's extraordinary. It is. It really is.

Next up, Central Park and Burns scholar Thomas Keith,

for a chat under the watchful eye of Rabbie Burns' very own statue.

Why did that song in particular become such an important thing here?

There is something of a friendship and family feeling about it,

that was immediately understood.

And I think it has something to do with that melody... Uh-huh.

As well as the Burns lyrics,

because the Burns lyrics are sometimes known and sometimes not.

Now, give us a sense of just how important it was,

that phrase, as well.

Because it was really taken on board by the Americans in a way

that perhaps wasn't by the Scots back home.

Yeah, I think it had, er, multiple meanings. I mean, it, it, er...

It, of course, was a song of reunion, not a song of parting,

as we think of it now.

You find, starting in the 1880s, all kinds of greetings cards.

You had Auld Lang Syne for every occasion,

perhaps except New Year, there were a few New Year's cards,

but you had Auld Lang Syne for Valentine's Day, Auld Lang Syne

for the Fourth of July, Auld Lang Syne for Easter, Auld Lang Syne

for Halloween, Auld Lang Syne for St Patrick's Day. Really?

Auld Lang Syne for secular Christmas,

Auld Lang Syne for religious Christmas.

It was an understood phrase among Americans.

Auld Lang Syne has had a truly remarkable impact on America,

part of the soundtrack to which America's history has played out...

Oh, Scotland!

..resonating outwards from the early homesteads,

all the way to the White House.

In 1936, on accepting the Democratic nomination for a second election,

a jubilant President Roosevelt wanted to hear it after his speech.

Get the band to play Auld Lang Syne again.

Auld Lang Syne!

BAND STARTS TO PLAY AULD LANG SYNE

I think the band was going to play something...

LAUGHTER

And it...

BAND STARTS TO PLAY AULD LANG SYNE

And in 1989, it was the song that Ronald and Nancy Reagan sang

as they prepared to depart the White House for the last time.

# ..Brought to mind

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

OK, time to check out a few modern-day Scots

who've followed in the tradition

and established themselves a new life in the New World.

First up, Aberfeldy-born star of stage and screen, Alan Cumming...

Let's see the teeth.

OK, job's yours.

..who swapped Scotland for the high life of New York.

Well, that was clumsy.

Dougie! How are you, Alan? You'll have had your tea! I've had my tea!

Good to see you. You too.

So, do you think people who come across and start living,

especially Scottish people coming across and live,

particularly in America, that they become even more patriotic?

Um, well, I think you can go very much of the haggis and heather way.

And I mean, people here are very encouraging of that, like,

practically every day of my life, I get people going,

"Alan, I'm Scottish!"

And you go, "Oh, really? Where from?" "I don't know."

And, you know, that's the whisky in the blood side of things.

'Time to chap up Elgin's very own star of Grey's Anatomy,

'actor and director Kevin McKidd...'

We've got an ATB accident two minutes out. Here we go.

'..who now calls LA home.'

Kevin, how are you? Hey! How are you doing? Good to see you. Do you want to have a blether?

'He doesn't actually live in a caravan!'

So, Hogmanay here in Los Angeles, slightly

different from back in Elgin? It is, it is, it doesn't cut it, really.

I almost feel now, there's no point if you're not in Scotland. Really?

Not that there's no point, but it's just not the same.

I don't find it to be the same, you know? I like to be on my home turf.

I get kind of depressed when I'm not in Scotland for Hogmanay.

Right, really? I get kind of...

"Pfff! Right, I'm going to my bed," you know,

whereas if I'm in Scotland, I'm like, I'm the guy...

I'm the guy up until six in the morning, you know.

Seeing what's left of all the empty bottles!

Also in LA, celebrity reporter Ross King...

Written by Tim Rice and the two boys from ABBA, Elaine Paige

and Barbara Dickson and I Know Him So Well...

..who traded a view of the Clyde for the Hollywood sign...

The movie comes out right at the end of the year... ..in his back yard!

We got together - chaos.

Ross! Dougie! How are you? How did you get past security? I don't know!

Now, of course, you are a showbiz reporter,

you must have been with some serious big stars and sung Auld Lang Syne from time to time, have you?

Actually, yes. Um...

I do remember singing

Auld Lang Syne round a piano

at Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas's wedding,

with Catherine belting it out, and Mick Hucknall from Simply Red.

And they actually got the words right.

I remember singing it with Vinnie Jones,

who got the words completely wrong.

COCKNEY ACCENT: # For the sake of old lang syne... #

Did you tell him? Didn't say a word. "Bravo, Vinnie!" I went. "That was beautiful!"

Auld Lang Syne as a song, is that something that you have,

in the past, been known to drink a few drinks and sing?

You know, I can do it like everyone, I can do the first verse,

but it's one of these songs that I think, it's like, you know,

how you imagine if you were kind of programmed as a child spy in

Russia, and then 25 years later, some song will play and you'll be like...

"I must kill!" You know, I think that's what Auld Lang Syne is like.

Because it's sort of, whenever you hear it,

it just kind of sparks this emotional outpouring in you.

One of the verses I love most is... What is it?

"We twa hae paidl'd in the burn, from morning time till dine,

"But seas between us braid hae roar'd till auld lang syne."

The verse kind of says to me,

it's about these two pals, you know, from the same town,

but now there is a huge sea between them,

they live apart, one of them lives probably back in the home town,

and one of them has done what I have kind of done

and gotten far away, physically, from that place.

But there is a yearning there, you know, for that connection

and that camaraderie and that brotherhood.

So, I just think there's something about the words in that song

that really, um, get you.

The song Auld Lang Syne, is that important to you?

And has it become more important since coming over here?

Um, it leaves me quite emotional.

Even just now, thinking about it, whenever I hear it here,

it does make me think of home.

And whenever I hear it, I'm just proud.

And you're getting upset now, obviously... Yeah, very.

Just thinking about it.

To sing it, does it unlock lots of emotions in you that perhaps,

as Scottish people,

we maybe are not in touch with as much as we could be, perhaps?

I will always think of my mum playing the piano.

And, um... Yeah.

You know, just...

She would just, at the end of even a family party, she would play it.

And, um, that's a special one.

Absolutely, the most special. Yeah.

So, let's get a sense now of how much Ross King has

settled into life in Los Angeles.

I saw this earlier on, this is incredible. Look at this!

There we are. You can take the boy out of, but...

You've got to have your tablet! Amazing I've still got my own teeth!

Well, almost.

Macaroon bars, Tunnock's Caramel Wafers, Tea Cakes,

and Broon's Scottish Fudge!

In my concert, I wanted to sing something Scottish,

so I sang a song from The Steamie, and it's set on New Year's Eve,

so I sang that song, and I did it with a cello,

my cellist played it, so at the end, the cellist went...

HE HUMS AULD LANG SYNE

Not a dry eye in the house. Fantastic.

Totally, just like, everyone weeping. Whenever I've done it.

Even, you know, even abroad!

You're exploiting it, as well! Totally exploiting it. For purely sentimental reasons.

But it has done it itself, for centuries, so... Absolutely.

# For auld lang syne, my dear... #

A song can be embraced around the globe,

but to remain popular for centuries,

it needs to have more than just a good tune and a catchy chorus.

Auld Lang Syne has at its heart a sentiment that has proved universal.

That song will bring me to tears every time,

not actual floods of tears, not like...

But I will get just a little pricking behind the eyes.

Because it does make you think of times gone by.

I think when you're singing Auld Lang Syne, you can

almost feel your ancestry bearing down on you.

You remember grannies, aunties, uncles that aren't there any more,

and that's what the song is about, it's about remembering

people from your past and raising a glass to them.

That song means different things on different levels,

the older you get, and that's the sign of a really good song.

# We two have paddled in the stream... #

It's about remembering old friends, so if you're six, what are you reminiscing about?

The guy that you haven't seen for a week? "Remember Derek? What happened to him?"

"You're seeing him tomorrow." "Oh, right enough."

The way I think about it, it's thinking about pals and family you've not seen for a while.

And that thing that Scottish people love doing,

singing about being far away from Scotland, which is

probably why it has spread round the world,

because Scottish people have spread round the world.

'Not a word has been printed or spoken about their departure,

'but there is a small crowd there to join in Old Lang Syne.'

Auld Lang Syne, with its popular tune and themes of friendship

and remembrance, has had real resonance

and special meaning in times of conflict.

# For the sake of old lang syne... #

And not just for Scottish soldiers.

There is no question, this is a song with friendship

and sentiment at its heart, taking on a huge significance

during the Christmas truce of World War I.

The truce was a series of unofficial ceasefires

that took place along the Western Front in 1914.

The guns fell silent as troops from both sides celebrated

man's humanity through friendship and, of course, song.

A letter written by Captain Sir Edward Hamilton Westrow Hulse

of the Scots Guards to his mother describes the remarkable events.

'My dearest mother, just returned to billets again after the most

'extraordinary Christmas in the trenches you could possibly imagine.

'Words fail me completely in trying to describe it.

'Scots and Huns were fraternising in the most genuine possible manner.

'Every sort of souvenir was exchanged.

'And so we went on, singing everything

'from Good King Wenceslas to the Tommies' Song,

'and ended up with Auld Lang Syne, which we all,

'English, Scots, Irish, Prussian and Wurttembergers, joined in.

'It was absolutely astounding, and if I had seen it

'on a cinematograph film, I should have sworn that it was faked.'

In the early part of the 20th century,

a new industry was emerging in America, one that would bring

Auld Lang Syne to an even greater audience around the world.

The influence of Tinseltown on the success of Auld Lang Syne

cannot be underestimated.

Right from the very first clapperboard,

Hollywood knew a good song when it heard one.

I think Hollywood probably has played a part in remarketing

and rebranding a song that you were never sure

if it was really brilliant or actually just a bit naff.

The song was and is the perfect soundtrack for those

key emotional moments so beloved by the movies.

It presses nice wee emotional buttons, Auld Lang Syne,

because it makes you reminisce.

Goodbye, pal! So long!

So it's used craftily, I think, by directors,

to just turn the tears on, let's get them greetin'!

Lassie...will ye...

..sing me...

..a song once more?

I'm sure I've watched a few things which have made me

want to physically heave, the sentiments being so thickly laid on.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot

# And never brought to mind... #

And I kind of have a really vivid memory of being a wee girl

and seeing Shirley Temple sing that song,

and it made me think,

"The whole world knows about Auld Lang Syne."

We called wee lassies like that, at school, wee grannies.

Like, "Look at that wee granny,

"singing. What are you doing'?

"Why are you comforting a soldier? Why are YOU comforting a soldier?

"You're supposed to be out playing, why are you in there, you wee granny?"

# We'll take a cup o' kindness yet... #

I do like it if somebody tries, like Shirley Temple, tries to sing,

"gie us", it's really quite sweet!

# And gie us a hand o' thine... #

She's getting a wee bit gallus there.

"Gie us a hand o' thine."

Good effort, well done.

# For the days of auld lang syne. #

ROBERT FLORENCE: See if I was on my deathbed

and the ghost of Shirley Temple started singing at me?

I probably would get a bit emotional.

Terrified as well, but emotional, I think, thinking about Scotland

and, you know, thinking about all the...

the hills and all that, the stuff I'm never going to see.

Ssh! He's asleep.

Aww! And, across the decades, Auld Lang Syne has continued

to feature in some of Hollywood's biggest hits.

I love that scene in When Harry Met Sally

when he tells her he loves her and all the reasons he loves her.

I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest

of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

And Auld Lang Syne is playing and Meg Ryan, pre-surgery...

(What a different woman, wasn't she?)

..has got all that,

you know, that glistening tear, then he goes into questioning the song.

What does this song mean?

My whole life, I don't know what this song means.

Should old acquaintance be forgot -

does that mean we should forget old acquaintances?

Or if we forget them, we should remember them?

Which is not possible, we already forgot them!

I just love it, it still makes me laugh when I see it,

because I thought, "Yeah, that's the way we all feel! What is it?"

I think, actually, it was culturally important that Harry

broke down the lyrics of Auld Lang Syne

for an international audience. It's important.

Well, maybe it just means that

we should remember that we forgot them, or something.

Whether they ever come up with an answer, I don't know, but

they get off with each other, and that's what we are interested in.

Is it in Sex And The City?

They choose, I think, a lovely way of doing Auld Lang Syne,

with Mairi Campbell singing it.

I got a call from the production team for Sex And The City,

to say that Sarah Jessica Parker requested that this song was

the one they used in the New Year's scene.

# Should auld acquaintance be forgot... #

And I went, "Oh, jeepers! I'm going to have to go and see this movie."

# Should auld acquaintance be forgot... #

I like the way they used it in the film, I was quite taken aback.

The focus leaves the shoes and the dresses

and moves into forgiveness and compassion.

# For auld lang syne... #

If anybody had ever told me

that I would well up watching Sex And The City,

I would have said you were crazy, but I doff my hat to that moment.

# For auld lang syne. #

I think the first time I realised that it was being sung

elsewhere was when I saw It's a Wonderful Life.

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas, George.

I don't know about anybody else,

but I start crying as soon as that movie starts.

Oh, George!

Everyone does love that film, and the end is just so happy,

and it's so cheesy and schmaltzy

that if you're going to have any song in it,

it's got to be Auld Lang Syne, it just ticks all the boxes.

To my big brother, George, the richest man in town!

You're already in tears, you're like,

"I cannae bear this, this is too beautiful."

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

Then you hear THAT starting, you're like,

"No' that an' all, for God's sake! Gies a chance here!"

# For old lang syne, my dear

# For old lang syne... #

It's the perfect combination,

it shows exactly what the power of Auld Lang Syne is,

that you're feeling sorry, you're feeling a wee bit better,

then you're feeling delighted by the end of it.

# For old lang syne. #

It's perfect, isn't it?

Just absolutely perfect.

Auld Lang Syne's appeal isn't just confined to the movies,

or Scots, for that matter.

The song's sentiments struck a chord with all who heard it.

Embraced and adapted into native languages across the globe,

the words are often changed,

but the very core of the song's message remains.

HE SINGS IN BENGALI

In India and Bangladesh, you have the Bengali song,

Memory Of The Good Old Days, Purano Shei Diner Kotha.

From 1919 until 1948, the lyrics of Korea's national anthem were sung

to the tune that was introduced to the country by Western missionaries.

A novelty clock whose chime was Auld Lang Syne gave Muhammad Jameel Didi

of the Maldives the music to which their national anthem was set.

Its popularity in Russia results from an admiration

of the people's poet, Robert Burns.

The USSR were the first to honour him

with a commemorative stamp, in 1956.

In China, Auld Lang Syne is so long established,

many people assume it is a native song.

It is popular at farewell parties in Mexico...

And closer to home, it's the tune to many European Scouting gatherings.

HE SINGS IN DANISH

The Danes have it as a folk song.

THEY SING IN DUTCH

And the Dutch use Auld Lang Syne for their football song,

We Love Orange.

Auld Lang Syne has certainly popped up in some surprising

and unusual places around the globe, none more so than right here,

the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan.

MUSIC: "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors

The Japanese got their hands on Auld Lang Syne in the 1890s,

when it was introduced into the school curriculum by

an American teacher, Luther Whiting Mason, in a wave of westernisation.

The Japanese, like others, played with the words,

making it their own, but the heart remains.

It sings of remembrance, nostalgia and friendship,

The Light Of The Fireflies - Hotaru No Hikari.

As the song has become something of a Japanese school anthem,

time to go back to the classroom, I reckon.

THEY SING IN JAPANESE

Coincidentally, Auld Lang Syne fits perfectly into the Japanese

musical five-note scale, and the girls of

Ochanomizu High School Chorus Club certainly do the song proud.

Different words, different language,

and still that tune gets you right here! Amazing.

Tell me about that song, what does it mean?

We sing this song

when we graduate from school.

And, yes, I have many memories about this song.

THEY CHATTER IN JAPANESE

That's amazing. I just asked, "What is the song about?"

It's caused a massive amount of debate.

SHE SPEAKS IN JAPANESE

I guess it means different things to different people.

Just like Auld Lang Syne!

'Time to bring Hotaru No Hikari up to date.

'Many businesses in Japan use it

'to let customers know it's closing time.

'DJ and TV host Kaoru Kanazawa has promised to show me this in action.'

This is one shop? Yes! Look at the size of it!

'So, we're off to the shops.'

TUNE OF AULD LANG SYNE PLAYS OVER PA

That was the song, I heard the song there! Mm-hm.

Can you recognise this song?

Yeah, yeah, it's, well,

to the tune of Auld Lang Syne as I would recognise it, but...

Exactly. Hotaru No Hikari... In Japanese, yeah. Wow!

My goodness.

We all know we have to leave.

It's quite strange for me, I have to say, hearing it,

but it's nice, actually, it's lovely.

So, everyone is leaving, I think we are the last ones here!

So, where are we going now? Do you want a drink?

Yes, I do, very good idea. Very good idea indeed. Let's go, then.

Let's go. We are getting hurried out now! My goodness.

'I thought she'd never ask. It's not only shops that use the song.

'Everything from restaurants to Disneyland Tokyo end their day

'with a gentle "sling your hook",

'all to the strains of Auld Lang Syne. Brilliant!'

# You're big in Japan tonight

# Big in Japan... #

Hotaru No Hikari, this song, reminds us about good times of school.

So, when we hear this at the shop, or at the department store,

to get that we have to leave this place, you don't feel that bad.

Like Irish pubs, or British pub, or maybe Scottish pub as well,

maybe they say, "Folks, get out! Party's over!

"Drink it and just go!" Exactly. We don't say that. No.

I guess we are polite people. Much more gentle.

Anyway, how are you enjoying that Scottish whisky?

It is so nice, smooth and kind of a little bit of sweetness in it.

It's nice. Nice, like you!

HE LAUGHS Bless you! Cheers. Sweet.

You look quite similar in colour. Yeah.

HE SINGS HOTARU NO HIKARI IN JAPANESE

There it is, the song, which means, very politely, we are

being thrown out of this bar! Exactly, but in a beautiful way.

It's a very nice way.

So, that's the end of my trip to Japan, it's all over.

No, no, there is one more thing that you have to do when you're in Japan.

OK...

DOUGIE AND KAORU SING IN JAPANESE

Thank you for coming to Japan! It was a pleasure.

An absolute pleasure. And thank you for not singing that last verse and leaving me

to do it on my own! It's very kind of you.

Yes indeed, Tokyo, thank you very much indeed, good night!

Auld Lang Syne certainly proved a little challenging in Japanese.

But that's nothing compared to how the world got to grips -

quite literally - with the Scottish etiquette of when to "gie a hand".

The dance that comes with the song and the crossing of the arms,

it's mind-boggling.

I've got no idea what you do with your hands.

And I still don't know, actually, when the arms cross over the other way.

Is it that, or is it that? Or does it matter? Can it be either?

I think it's this.

I don't think it's ever this.

But I might be wrong.

There is always a bit of stramash, with people going,

"No, it's not now, when do we move forward, when do we not?

"When do we do this?" And you really are fudging it, looking at people.

Really, anything I do in a touching sense, anything involving any

physical contact, I let the other person take the lead.

I really just wait and feel what the mood's like in the room.

I always make sure to ask them afterwards

if it was a pleasant experience for them, as well.

# For auld lang syne. #

I've not had any complaints so far.

# ..a cup o' kindness yet... #

What used to bother me

about Auld Lang Syne were the kind of hand fascists.

# And here's a hand... #

And the hand crosses over - "Here's a haund, my trusty fiere,"

the person on this side, "and gies a haund o' thine."

That's how it's done.

I think there is a notion that Scottish males aren't very tactile.

You needed to kind of manly up by, for some reason,

making a saltire with your arms. Maybe that's a bit more butch.

I do get really annoyed when people cross hands right at the start.

I'm like, "No, not yet!"

That matters to me.

You might just be going "deedle-eedle"

in the background, but, you know, do the movements, darling!

Didn't somebody make the Queen do it? Tony Blair or somebody?

You're not supposed to touch Her Majesty the Queen,

that's very bad form, but it's the one time when you can "gie a hand".

I don't know if she runs forward.

I can't see it, myself.

But you will certainly get a "haund" of Her Majesty the Queen.

At the end, there is the massive crush, as well,

the in and out, it's a bit like an extreme form of the Hokey Cokey.

It's all getting confused! What's going on?

If you end up in the middle

and you've not expected it the first time, and waves of cross-armed

people are coming at you,

shouting about having willy waughts and... Och!

It's scary.

# For auld lang syne. #

Auld Lang Syne has been used to mark the end of many an occasion

over the years. But this is the one we most associate with our song.

New Year is very, very important to Scottish people, much more so than

Christmas or Easter or birthdays or any of that kind of thing.

31st of December, the countdown to midnight.

CHEERING

BELL CHIMES

Fireworks, friends and family.

There is that expectation of New Year, it has to be a great time!

So, sometimes, you're singing the song, thinking, "Come on! This is the one!"

At Hogmanay, you are allowed to be as Scottish as you like,

which usually means steamin', over the back of the telly.

That's why you don't know what I'm saying just now,

cos you're steamin', over the back of the telly!

You know, if there is ever a threat of something changing a little bit

at Hogmanay - raging!

Putting Jools Holland on BBC One in Scotland - no!

Excuse me, I want shortbread and I want Jackie Bird

and all the nonsense, and I want to moan about it as well,

but don't dare change it!

We've been singing Auld Lang Syne in Scotland to mark

Hogmanay for many a year.

But its association with

New Year's Eve in the rest of the world is crucial to

its success in becoming one of the most recognised songs on the planet.

And to see that on a grand scale, we need to go back to America.

Now, this is where Auld Lang Syne really establishes itself

as the New Year song of the modern era. New York's Times Square.

An estimated one million people take to the streets here,

with a further TV audience of a billion,

to celebrate the passing of the old and usher in the new.

Can you imagine a million people, right here? It'd be incredible!

CHEERING

Times Square may be where it's at for the Big Apple's New Years -

that's American for Hogmanay - but the root to Auld Lang Syne's

involvement goes back over 85 years, to the hotel a few blocks away.

'Here is Mr New Year's Eve himself, Guy Lombardo!'

BAND PLAYS INTRO

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, thank you, George Bryan, and, ladies and gentlemen,

it's certainly wonderful having you all here to help celebrate

New Year's Eve at the Roosevelt Grill.

"Mr New Year" is no understatement.

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadian Big Band were

instrumental in cementing Auld Lang Syne as America's New Year's anthem.

At the stroke of midnight, when you see 12 o'clock,

we're going to hear Auld Lang Syne played for the Roosevelt Grill...

Guy heard the song being sung by Scottish

immigrants in Canada in his youth.

From 1929 to his death in 1977, Guy's show was beamed directly

to US homes, firstly on radio,

then TV, reaching an audience of millions.

In fact, so accustomed to hearing Guy conduct Auld Lang Syne,

most Americans thought HE had written it.

And where it all began - the Roosevelt Hotel,

to meet Guy's godson and one-time drumming band member, Joe Van Blerck.

So, how did it come about that Auld Lang Syne was the tune that

was played by the band, at the bewitching hour?

Well, when they were playing on radio, of course,

they played on the CBS network

before midnight on New Year's Eve,

they played on the NBC network after midnight, and right around midnight,

they needed music to bridge the gap between the two broadcasts.

And that's when they decided that Auld Lang Syne would be

the perfect song to play.

And the sponsor of their show was Robert Burns cigars.

This is the Robert Burns panatela, an especially wonderful cigar.

And that's how it became associated with New Year's Eve,

and of course became Guy Lombardo's theme song and became

associated with him, and he, of course, became Mr New Year's Eve.

BAND PLAYS AULD LANG SYNE

It was almost as if the New Year couldn't start

until Auld Lang Syne had finished. That's right, it couldn't start

until Guy Lombardo said it was the New Year.

That's a lot of power! It is.

Happy New Year, everybody, a very happy New Year!

Especially from all of us, and especially from Clairol...

Well, there you go, that's how it took over the world.

So, come midnight on Hogmanay, no matter where you are or who

you're with, spare a thought to Auld Lang Syne and raise your voices.

But for goodness' sake, try and get the words right, would you?

# Should auld acquaintance... #

Friendship is human to human.

Any race, any people, understand that human sentiment.

This is a song that Scotland's given to the world,

it's an international anthem.

I'm sure they sing it on Jupiter at Hogmanay!

Auld Lang Syne is about humans loving each other

and wishing each other well.

And, you know, long may this last, you're thinking!

It should be the Scottish national anthem, really.

And no matter what, when the bells go, you're up on your feet

and singing that song.

Or should I say, bluffing your way through it!

You couldnae dae that with Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.

I wish I'd written it!

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind,

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, for auld lang syne."

I mean...

I rest my case, Your Honour.

# For auld lang syne, my dear

# For auld lang syne

# We'll take a cup of kindness yet

# For auld lang syne. #