Monday, December 31, 2007

Searching for Auld Lang Syne

I’m willing to wager there are very few people on the face of the earth who would be as interested in this as I am. But as I sit here on New Year’s Eve and consult blog statistics, specifically the Google searches people did that landed them on my previous blog post (Auld Lang Syne: Lyrics, Translation and History), I'm strangely comforted by discovering the universality of the apparent desire to sing “Auld Lang Syne” tonight. The sweetness and human-ness of the many efforts worldwide is so touching.

All of the searches below were conducted in the last day. (I'll update later.) I have put the exact words in quotation marks, including exact spellings and misspellings that people typed in to look for information about Auld Lang Syne. Very few got the spelling completely right (although a surprising number of people got “syne” right, and a surprising number think it's LAND syne)(and each has validity within the context of the search engine-after all, each one worked!) but, however folks spelled it, it was a good effort to find the lyrics to this grand old sentimental song.

It brings me to tears to see how people from far and wide struggle to remember these words from Robert Burns, maybe remembering arm-over-arm quartets of swaggering singers, glasses raised high? I’m guessing they want the lyrics for old times’ sake, seeking tradition, and that auld acquaintances are not forgot. And it's all good. They're pretty sharp in Chicago and Newport in the wee hours, but I must admit I’m a little worried about that guy in Ithaca.

December 31, 2007 Eastern Standard Time from Google searches

“lang syne lyrics translated”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Walden, NY ~ 11:37am

“auld ayn syne"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mountain Home, Arkansas ~ 11:38am

“ald land sine lyrics”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Suffolk Ipswich UK ~ 1:00pm

“lyrics to auld ayne syne”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tunkhannock, Pa. ~ 1:23pm

“words to song ald lang sine”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Denver, Colorado ~ 1:47pm

“ald land syne”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~London, UK ~ 1:57pm

“the words to ald langs in”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Luton, UK ~ 2:12pm

“ald auld lang syne lyrics”~~~~~St John, New Brunswick, Canada ~ 2:13pm

“play lyrics for old lang syne on youtube”~~~Guildford Surrey, UK ~ 2:46pm

“auld lang syne scottish pronunciation”~~~~Iowa City, Iowa ~ 3:17pm

“auld land syn”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~San Diego, California ~ 4:02pm

“auld land syne lyrics translation”~~~~~~~Fernandez Beach, Fla ~ 4:06pm

“words to ald land syne”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Houston, Texas ~ 4:10pm

“lyrics for ald ang syne”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Portland, Oregon ~ 5:24pm

“auld ayne syne lyrics”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Philadelphia, Pa. ~ 5:26pm

“history of ald lang syne”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~United Kingdom ~ 5:53pm

“new year ald lang syne lyrics”~~~~~~~~~~~~London, UK ~ 6:16pm

“auld anxiety lyrics”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ithaca, NY ~ 6:41pm

“auld ang syn lyrics”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Linwood, Kansas ~ 6:48pm

“ald langs syne lyrics”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Derby, UK ~ 7:01pm

“auld land syn”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wiltshire, Salisbury UK 7:12PM

"why is auld langes ayne sung at new year"~~Northamptonshire, UK ~ 7:20pm

"ald lang syne lyric"~~~~~~~~~~~~~Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK ~ 8:43pm

“ald langs”~~~~~~~~~~~~River Forest, Illinois ~ 10:00pm

“lyrics auld ang syn”~~~~~~~~Seattle, Washington ~ 10:56pm

“old langs ayne”~~~~~~~~Bernardsville, NJ ~ 11:23pm

“old langs ayn words”~~~~~~~~Pittsburgh, Pa ~ 11:25pm

“love and truth”~~~~~~~~~Hanoi, Dac Lac, Vietnam ~ 11:27pm- this led the searcher to a post I wrote last month about Confucius and the I Ching – I'm including it for its poignancy here and now in the new year.

“auld langs ayn”~~~~~~~Brisbane, Queensland, Australia ~ 11:34pm

"auld lang syne lyrics translation"~~~Lewiston, Maine ~ 11:46pm

"ald langs"~~~~~~~Pittsburgh, Pa. ~ 11:56pm

"ald lang sine lyrics"~~~~~~~Fishers, Indiana ~ 11:57pm

"old langs lyrics"~~~~~~~~Wilmimgton, Delaware ~ 11:58pm

January 1st

"auld langes"~~~~~~~~~~Denver, Colorado ~ 12:00am

"'auld lang syne' lyrics translation"~~~~~~~Chicago, Illinois ~ 12:54am

"auld ayne syne"~~~~~~~~~~~Broken Arrow, Oklahoma ~ 12:56am

"lyrics auld ange syn"~~~~~~~~~Dallas, Texas ~ 1:20am

"'old langs ayne' lyrics"~~~~~~~~Sechelt, British Colombia, Canada ~ 2:12am

"auld lang syne lyrics translation"~~~~~Newport, RI ~ 2:19am

"auld langs ayn"~~~~~~~~~~Toulouse Mid-Pyrenees, France ~ 3:51am

"lyrics & olde ayn"~~~~~~Melbourne, Australia ~ 5:15am

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