The Great Canadian Road Trip…Song #53/250: Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians

Time waits for no one. Whether you are rich or poor, young or old, famous or forgotten, the clock ticks for you just as it ticks for me in my home. There is no escaping it. For most of us we have come to terms with the passing of time by making a bit of a Devil’s bargain. We accept that time will eat away at our mind, our memories, our muscles and our bones. But we balance the fact that we are dying a little bit more each day with celebrations of those times that are present and past. Birthdays and anniversaries quickly spring to mind as examples where the passing of time takes a back seat to the joy of the moment shared with those closest to us. While those moments are fun, the reality remains that they are occasions in which the focus is directed toward the individual. However, there is one universal celebration of the passing of time that is shared by people the world over all at the same time (more or less) and that is the one where we all count down the final seconds of the old calendar year and welcome the start of a brand new year with fireworks, hugs, kisses and a song. That song is “Auld Lang Syne”. In many places around the world, the rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” that you will hear is the one made famous by arguably the most successful Canadian born music artist of all time, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians. This is the story of one of the world’s most memorable and emotional songs and the man who helped to make it famous and who forever became associated with it. So put on your party hats and grab the one you love best because this post begins in 5-4-3-2-1….HAPPY NEW POST!!!! 

Here we go.

“Auld Lang Syne” is one of those songs that lived on in the world of folk tunes from hundreds of years ago. No one knows for sure who the original composer was. All that is known is that variations on the tune were sung all throughout Scotland and Ireland and Wales during the 1600s. Initially, “Auld Lang Syne” was not exclusively associated with the changing of the old year for the new. But it was associated with the ending of things. For example, it was a song sung at funerals and at graduation ceremonies or simple farewells to someone who was leaving to live somewhere else or who was heading off on a journey. In the late 1700s, Scottish poet Robbie Burns wrote the lyrics down and published them in a book called The Roud Folk Song Index. The lyrics were actually first written in the form of a poem. The melody that we know today comes from a traditional Scottish folk tune from so long ago that it just seems to have always been played without authorship ever having been declared or deemed necessary. The phrase “Auld Lang Syne” roughly translates as meaning “For the sake of times past” or “times long past”. The opening verse of the song has generally been taken to be a reflection of the value of the memories and relationships that were ending. The answer to that question is that yes, of course the moments that we stitch together to form the tapestry of our lives all have meaning to greater and lesser degrees but they all have meaning that is worth remembering and honouring. As the 1800s began to end, “Auld Lang Syne” started being played at the end of the calendar year. The song served as a mechanism by which people could reflect on the year that was and look forward to the blank slate of their lives in the year to come. Initially, “Auld Lang Syne” was not the prominent song that it has become. For many, it was just another song to be sung around that time of the year. But what made it famous was the arrival on the music scene of a young man and his brothers from London, Ontario. The family name of these music playing brothers was Lombardo. One of the brothers was named Guy. Although a multi-instrumentalist himself, Guy would become the face of the orchestra by being its conductor. Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians recorded hundreds of songs over the course of their career but none was a bigger hit than “Auld Lang Syne”. It was a song that not only changed their lives but also the lives of many people on the planet because of how their version of the song came to be associated with New Year’s Eve celebrations. Here is the story of how that came to be.

Guy Lombardo was born in London, Ontario in 1902. He was one of six children (five boys and one girl). His father was a tailor by trade but a baritone singer by preference. As the children grew older, Guy’s father steered them toward music. By the time Guy was twelve years old, he and three of his other four brothers (Carmen, Libert and Victor) all came together and formed a family orchestra to accompany their father when he sang. By the time Guy was turning twenty, the orchestra had grown to include friends and other young men with the required musical skills. They were playing at waterfront resorts around Southwestern Ontario and were gaining a reputation for playing a form of big band music known as sweet music. Sweet music was essentially big band style music with more of a Pop sensibility. By his mid-twenties, Guy Lombardo and his brothers felt that they had outgrown their old stomping grounds in Ontario and were ready to aim for something bigger. So, in the mid 1920s, the orchestra relocated to the other side of Lake Erie, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, they took up a residency at the Claremont tent night club. Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, as they called themselves now, began appearing on local Cleveland radio stations. Soon they developed quite a loyal following in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. They recorded their first album not long after that. As the 1930s dawned, Guy Lombardo and his orchestra recorded almost 100 songs for Columbia Records. The popularity of the orchestra soared as their music began being played all across the country. *(By the time of Guy Lombardo’s death in 1972, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians Orchestra had sold over 300 million albums worldwide. This makes them the greatest selling Canadian act ever and one of the best selling musical acts in any genre).  In 1929, the orchestra relocated from Chicago (where they had moved to from Cleveland) and began playing at the Roosevelt Ballroom in New York City. It was there that they landed the gig that would make them famous. They were selected to perform a New Year’s Eve concert that was to be broadcast on national radio for the first time. Needless to say, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians played “Auld Lang Syne” at the stroke of midnight. The reaction across America was one of universal acclaim.  The band was asked to host the New Year’s Eve celebrations the following year, too. Eventually they became the regular hosts. The size of their concerts outgrew the space available at The Roosevelt Ballroom so the band relocated to The ballroom in The Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The rest, as they say, is history. Guy Lombardo’s rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” became so ingrained in the mind of the public as being the sound of New Year’s Eve that it was selected as the version that is played, even today, when the ball drops in Times Square in NYC. Not a bad accomplishment for the sons of immigrants from the Forest City of London, Ontario. 

Regardless of where you are as the final grains of sand slip from 2023’s hourglass, I hope that you are well and that your memories of the year are happy ones. I know that I have much to be thankful for. I have my health. I am loved by my wife and able to love her back in reply. Both of my daughters are doing well in their lives, too. I am proud of them both. As far as my writing goes, 2023 ends with me having more followers (and better, stronger, more satisfying online relationships than ever before) and almost 12,000 total page views (which is a lot for me). In fact, almost two-thirds of all pageviews that I have ever received have happened in the past two years which indicates a growth in the reach of my words to the world. I am very grateful to Andrea, my copyeditor who polishes my words with her firm but gentle touch.I enjoy the interactions I have with many of you on FB, WordPress and/or on Mastodon. I appreciate every single comment that comes my way and respect the dickens out of all of you. Thanks for having come along for the ride during 2023. I wish you all the best in 2024 for a year filled with health, happiness and peace. Bye for now. See you all again when the new year dawns.

The link to the video for the song “Auld Lang Syne” by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians can be found here. ***A lyrics version is here.

The link to the official website for Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians can be found here.  

The official website for the city of London, Ontario can be found here.

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