The most commonly sung song for English-speakers on New Year's eve "Auld Lang Syne" is an old Scottish song that was first published by the poet Robert Burns in the 1796 edition of the book, Scots Musical Museum.  Burns transcribed it (and made some refinements to the lyrics) after he heard it sung by an old man from the Ayrshire area of Scotland, Burns's homeland.

"Auld Lang Syne" literally translates as "old long since" and means "times gone by." The song asks whether old friends and times will be forgotten and promises to remember people of the past with fondness, "For auld lang syne, we'll take a cup o' kindness yet."

But it was bandleader Guy Lombardo, and not Robert Burns, who popularized the song and turned it into a New Year's tradition. Lombardo played the song at midnight at a New Year's eve party at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1929, and a tradition was born.  After that, Lombardo's version of the song was played every New Year's eve from the 1930s until 1976 at the Waldorf Astoria. The song became such a New Year's tradition that "Life magazine wrote that if Lombardo failed to play 'Auld Lang Syne,' the American public would not believe that the new year had really arrived.“

Ring in YOUR new year with tables draped in Linen-Like® tablecovers, Silver Swirl tablerunners and beverage napkins!  And don’t forget the super shiny disposable metallic cutlery (you don’t want to be doing dishes on New Year’s Day, do you?).  All will add sparkle to the occasion and go hand-in-hand with that champagne!