Uncyclopedia:Featured articles/December 31
"Auld Lang Syne" is a song written by Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns in 1788. The title translates to "old long since", or very loosely, "the good old days", meant sarcastically, of course, as nothing good ever happened in Scotland. It is traditionally sung in English-speaking countries at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve in a large drunken babble. Customarily, "Auld Lang Syne" and alcohol are inseparable, thus making the song tolerable and unable to die. The quintessential New Year anthem, it makes even Hanukkah's pitiful dreidel song seem sensational by comparison.
"Auld Lang Syne" has a very convoluted history. While a number of similar folk songs and poems existed before the time of Robert Burns, the precise origins of his song are not clear. Upon sending it to the Scots Musical Museum, Burns stated, "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man." (Full article...)