One of the books I wrote this year, Family Ghosts,
has a dance that ends with "Auld Lang Syne". It's not New Year's Eve
- instead occurring on the day after Thanksgiving, but it felt like the right
ending, and it got me looking into the song more.
It turns out that it was a very common close to
dances, especially in Scotland, home of the
author of the original poem, Robert Burns. It is about remembering the past,
not specifically the change from one year to another, but we associate the song
with that largely because of an Italian-Canadian bandleader.
Guy Lombardo formed a band with his brothers and
other local musicians in 1924. I don't know that they could have expected to
become as big as they did, but for almost fifty years, first on radio and then
on television, this was whom people listened to on New Year's Eve, and he
always ended on "Auld Lang Syne".
I was born five years before Guy Lombardo died in
1977. (The group tried to continue but for another two years, but it was really
his band.) For my generation, New Year's Eve belongs to Dick Clark, and I guess
that is changing over to Ryan Seacrest now, but that broadcast always included
"Auld Lang Syne" as the first song of the new year.
It was interesting looking and finding how that
tradition went back. You roll back into London, Ontario, and further back
into Scotland, but the history is strong. and I thought I should spend some time
listening to their stuff.
There is a lot of holiday music, but he wasn't just
an end of the year guy. There are a of classic old songs and standards, and it
was good listening. I had heard many of the songs before, but there was one,
"Blue Skirt Waltz" that was completely new to me and that I really
liked.
So, that's not so much of a review really. It's more
of an appreciation, and also a reminder to sometimes look back. That's also
what the song is about, so it all works out.
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