For 'Auld Lang Syne,' whatever that means

Many people will be singing "Auld Lang Syne" Thursday night as 2015 comes to an end. No doubt some will be wondering what it's actually about. So here are some answers.

Scots poet Robert Burns is credited as the author of the song, although Burns claimed he first heard the song from an old man in 1788. Burns was a prolific writer, usually in the Broad Scots dialect, but he also made part of his living collecting songs. It seems likely he augmented what he heard to create "Auld Lang Syne."

The song is a sentimental piece about two old friends meeting and remembering "times long past," as "auld lang syne" is often translated. Later verses, little known and seldom sung by Americans, tell of youthful friendship roaming the hills, picking flowers and paddling in streams, but wistfully the singer admits "seas between us broad have roared" as times have passed.

The song ends with the singer extending a hand to the old friend, and offering "a right gude-willie waught," or a feeling of warmth, to a kindred spirit.

"Auld Lang Syne" quickly became a Scottish favorite when it was published shortly after Burns' death in 1796. It was adopted as part of the New Year's Eve celebration known as Hogmanay, which in Scotland until relatively recently was a bigger celebration than Christmas. The song traveled with Scots as they moved around the globe, and often took root in other cultures.

Allied and German soldiers sang it together in No Man's Land during the Christmas Armistice in 1914. It also was adopted by Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin included a scene of miners singing the song in his 1923 silent classic "The Gold Rush."

However, "Auld Lang Syne" really became part of U.S. New Year's tradition when bandleader Guy Lombardo played it at midnight on New Year's in 1929 as a bridge between two live broadcasts. The rest, as they say, is history.