Each year at this time millions gather to sing, Auld Lang Syne1 at the stroke of midnight as they usher out the old year and in with the new.
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
The song, based upon an old 'Scots poem' may seem to be contradictory making some think that it poses the idea of 'forgetting the old (past) times' (as in year past) when quite the contrary is true... it is actually intended to make us reflect upon our long standing relationships by asking the question in a 'rhetorical' fashion. Rather than forget, we will 'cherish the memories' because the phase 'auld lang syne' is best interpreted "for the sake of our old times together."
We here at Insightful Accountant want to remember 'our old times together' over the past seven years as we look forward to 2020 and the new decade, but at the same time we also want to say, just as the one and only Bob Hope use to sing it... "Thanks for the memories2..."!
Murph
1 - Auld Lang Syne - written by Robert Burns, 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional Scots folk song.
2 - Thanks for the Memory - Bob Hope, the Decca Recording Label, 1938