New Year's greeting：Auld Lang Syne

山東東明縣東方高中 李全忠

難詞探意

1.chorus/'k??r?s/n.副歌；合唱曲

2.lyrics/'l?r?ks/n.歌詞

3.immigrant/'?m?ɡr?nt/n.（外來）移民；外僑

4.emigrate/'em?ɡre?t/v.移居國外；移民

New Year celebrations are taking place around the world,with the likes of Samoa and New Zealand already welcoming in 2021,as the UK prepares to do the same at midnight tonight.And no doubt once Big Ben strikes and the fireworks go off,there will be a fair bit of singing of Auld Lang Syne to get the new year underway.The song's become a New Year ritual,of course,but who wrote it—and why do we sing it at New Year?

While the New Year is generally greeted with much singing of Auld Lang Syne,a lot of us struggle to remember the words from one year to the next.There are five verses in total although it's normally only the first verse and chorus which are sung.It usually goes like this,“Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind?Should old acquaintance be forgot,and auld lang syne?...”This version of lyrics are plain but affectionate,which makes it easy to touch the listeners.

The song is actually part of a much longer work by Scottish poet Robert Burns—although even he admitted it was based on an old folk song.And Auld Lang Syne means “old long since” or “old times”—hence the phrase “for auld lang syne” means “for old time's sake”.

Auld Lang Syne is an appropriate song for New Year given that it reflects on old times,which a lot of people do at New Year—as they also begin to look ahead to times to come.

But while it's always been popular in Scotland—with Scottish immigrants taking the song across the pond when they emigrated to the US in the 19th century—it became more of an international favourite back in 1929 when Canadian bandleader Guy Lombardo and his band performed the song at New York's Roosevelt Hotel on New Year's Eve.

The performance was being broadcast on radio across the US—and listeners took it to their hearts,with Lombardo's New Year concerts and the playing of Auld Lang Syne,which quickly became a US tradition.As well as being popular at New Year,the song is also sung at funerals,graduations and by the Scouts to end a large organized event where many people go or on a busy,noisy occasion or period.

Reading

Check

1.How does the author introduce the topic of the text?

A.By giving examples.

B.By raising questions.

C.By making a comparison.

D.By narrating the history.

2.What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A.The lyrics.B.The history.

C.The composer.D.The characteristics.

3.What can be inferred about Auld Lang Syne?

A.It was seen as an American song.

B.It was inspired by an old folk song.

C.It gained popularity from the 1930s.

D.It was composed by Guy Lombardo.

Cultural

Background

羅伯特·彭斯

羅伯特·彭斯（Robert Burns，1759—1796），蘇格蘭農民詩人，他復活并豐富了蘇格蘭民歌，他的詩歌富有音樂性，可以歌唱。彭斯生于蘇格蘭民族面臨被異族征服的時代，因此他的詩歌充滿了民主、自由的思想。詩人生活在破敗的農村，和貧苦的農民血肉相連，他的詩歌歌頌了家鄉的秀美，抒寫了勞動者純樸的友誼和愛情。其主要作品有《兩只狗》《一朵紅紅的玫瑰》《致小鼠》《致山中雛菊》《致虱子》《圣節集市》《農民的星期六夜晚》等。

1788年，彭斯考取稅務局職員，1789年他謀得一個小稅務官的職位，每周要騎馬上班。就在那一段飛揚馳騁的日子里，他有了靈感，在給友人的一封信中，他賦予了《友誼天長地久》（Auld Lang Syne）以新的元素。