原是苏格兰民间歌曲，即苏格兰盖尔语：Auld Lang Syne，这是一首非常有名的诗歌，直译为逝去已久的日子，在中国各地普遍称为《友谊地久天长》。在许多的西方国家，这首歌通常会在平安夜时演唱，象征送走旧年而迎接新的一年的来临。祝大家新年快乐！
The stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve usually sounds like this: This is Auld Lang Syne, a song that represents the emotional conclusion to another year.
在除夕夜的午夜听到的钟声通常是这样的：这是《友谊地久天长》，这首歌代表了对过去一年的情感总结。
But it might surprise you to know, it's also a soccer anthem in the Netherlands.
但你可能会惊讶地发现，这也是荷兰的足球国歌。
Or in Japan, it's a traditional song about fireflies.
或者在日本，这是一首关于萤火虫的传统歌曲。
And the original was written centuries ago, as a Scottish celebration song.
原作写于几个世纪前，是苏格兰的一首庆祝歌曲。
So how did this song, that's managed to spread across the world, become the song we sing when the ball drops?
那么，这首歌是如何传播到全世界，变成了水晶球降落（纽约时代广场的跨年传统）时我们吟唱的歌曲呢？
What does this song mean?
这首歌是什么意思？
My whole life, I don't know what this song means.
我一辈子都不知道这首歌是什么意思。
A lot of people share this confusion about Auld Lang Syne, because the lyrics are sort of hard to figure out.
很多人都对《友谊地久天长》感到困惑，因为歌词有点难以理解。
Let's start with the title.
让我们从标题开始。
Auld Lang Syne.
Auld Lang Syne.
Individually these words mean "Old Long Since", which taken together, translate to something like "For old time's sake."
这几个词单独对应的意思是“旧的、很久、自从”，它们合起来，可以翻译成“为了那旧时光”。
It's written in Scots, a language spoken by about a million people in Scotland today.
它是用苏格兰语写的，苏格兰现在有大约一百万人说这种语言。
The rest of the lyrics are a mix of English and Scots words, like "And there's a hand, my trusty feire, And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught,".
歌词的其余部分是英语和苏格兰语单词的混合体，例如“还有一只手，我可信赖的朋友，我们同饮友情的酒。”
What is that?
那是什么意思？
So "feire" means friend.
这里“feire”是朋友的意思。
"Tak' a right gude-willie waught," so, a waught related to the word "draft," in English, would be a good pint of beer I imagine.
"Tak' a right gude-willie waught,"中waught是"咕咚咕咚地大口喝"的意思，在英语中，我想应该是一品脱啤酒。
This song asks you to remember people from your past and raise a toast to them, which made it a popular song to sing at New Year's and other celebrations.
这首歌让你记住旧时的朋友，并为他们敬酒，这使它成为在新年和其他庆祝活动中传唱的一首流行歌曲。
And that line about taking your friend's hand?
还有一句歌词是说牵着你朋友的手？
That's related to a traditional dance British people still do today.
这与英国人至今仍在跳的传统舞蹈有关。
The guy who popularized this song was one of Scotland's most famous exports: Robert Burns.
推广这首歌的是苏格兰最著名的思想输出者：罗伯特·彭斯。
Burns was a poet writing in the 1700's, just after Scotland and England unified to create the kingdom of Great Britain.
彭斯是17世纪的一位诗人，当时苏格兰和英格兰刚刚统一，建立了大不列颠王国。
He witnessed the decline of traditional Scottish culture in favor of English norms.
他目睹了苏格兰传统文化的衰落，人们转而支持英式传统。
So he devoted the end of his life to preserving this dying culture, by traveling the country to collect traditional poetry and songs to get them published.
因此，他在生命的最后一刻致力于保护这一垂死的文化，他周游全国，收集传统诗歌和歌曲并进行出版。
Auld Lang Syne was one of those songs.
《友谊地久天长》就是其中之一。
In a 1793 letter to his music publisher George Thomson, Burns claimed he wrote down the lyrics after hearing an old man singing it.
他在1793年写给音乐出版商乔治·汤姆森的一封信中，彭斯声称，他是在听到一位老人演唱后写下的歌词。
He called Auld Lang Syne "an old song about the olden times."
他把《友谊地久天长》称为“一首关于古老时代的老歌”。
And he made sure Thomson kept the Scots words in the song, arguing "There is a naievete, a pastoral simplicity, in a slight intermixture of Scots words and phraseology."
他还让汤姆森在歌中保留了苏格兰语的歌词，他认为“苏格兰语歌词中的词和词组有一点混杂，有一种朴素的田园风格。”
And this song, Auld Lang Syne, is doing a great job of tying in with the original idea of collecting folk songs, preserving heritage, celebrating heritage.
而这首歌《友谊地久天长》在与收集民歌、保护遗产、庆祝传统节日的原创理念上非常契合。
Auld Lang Syne was republished in countless song books worldwide over the centuries and because of Burns, the Scots words are still in there.
几个世纪以来，《友谊地久天长》在全世界无数的歌谣书籍中再版，由于彭斯的缘故，苏格兰语至今仍在歌词之中。
And even if you don't know the history behind them, you can still sort of figure out what the song is saying.
即使你不知道这首歌背后的历史，你仍然可以理解这首歌在说什么。
Anyway, it's about old friends.
无论如何，它是关于老朋友的。
Why has a song that people don't really understand become so widespread?
为什么一首人们不太懂的歌变得如此流行？
For starters, the melody of Auld Lang Syne is simple, making it easy to sing along to and easy to adapt into other musical styles.
对于初学者来说，《友谊地久天长》的旋律很简单，很容易跟着唱，也很容易适应其他音乐风格。
Which is why it can become a soul song, or a bluegrass song, or rock 'n roll.
这就是为什么它可以成为灵歌、蓝草之歌、或者摇滚乐。
And because it's uncomplicated and melodic, the song was easy to put with different lyrics.
因为这首歌简单，旋律优美，很容易用不同的歌词来表达。
Like in the US in the Civil War era, it became a song about a wish for the war to end.
就像在内战时期的美国，它成了一首表达希望战争结束的歌。
And it was also a popular anti-slavery ballad.
这也是一首受欢迎的反奴隶制民谣。
It took on new meanings in languages in other parts of the world, which is why it's in places you might not expect, like that soccer anthem in the Netherlands.
它在世界其他地方的语言中有了新的含义，这就是为什么它出现在你可能想不到的地方，比如荷兰的足球国歌。
Or a graduation song in parts of Asia.
或是亚洲部分地区的毕业歌曲。
And it was South Korea's national anthem until 1948.
到1948年，它成为了韩国的国歌。
No matter what the language or lyrics are, Auld Lang Syne's popularity also has something to do with its nostalgic feeling.
无论语言或歌词是什么，《友谊地久天长》的流行也与它的怀旧情怀有关。
The song itself is often used in the popular context in an even more overtly sad way.
这首歌本身经常以一种更加鲜明悲伤的方式呈现在流行的背景下。
If you look at the words, it's quite nostalgic as a song and that's its attraction.
如果你看看这些歌词，它就像一首歌一样让人怀念，这就是它的吸引力。
Which is why it started showing up in countless classic movies, usually to mark an emotional scene.
这就是为什么它开始出现在无数经典电影中的原因，通常是为了纪念一个激动人心的场景。
Like in this 1937 Shirley Temple movie, when her character consoles a dying soldier by singing Auld Lang Syne.
就像1937年雪莉·邓波儿的电影中，她的角色通过唱《友谊地久天长》来安慰一个垂死的士兵。
And the director Frank Capra used it for sentimental moments in at least 3 of his films.
导演弗兰克·卡普拉至少在他的三部电影中用它来表达情感。
But in the US, the song is best known for one thing: "Happy New Year."
但是在美国，与这首歌被熟知相关的一句话是：“新年快乐”。
And for that, we can thank Mr. New Year's Eve himself, Guy Lombardo.
为此，我们要感谢除夕先生本人，盖伊·伦巴多。
In 1928, Lombardo and his orchestra, The Royal Canadians, started a popular New Year's Eve radio show, broadcast from the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan.
1928年，伦巴多和他的管弦乐队——皇家加拿大人开始了一个受欢迎的新年夜广播节目，是在曼哈顿的罗斯福酒店播出的。
This meant that Americans all over the country tuned in from their home radios to listen to the same music on New Year's Eve.
这意味着全国各地的美国人在除夕夜从家里的收音机会收听到相同的音乐。
And at the stroke of midnight, Lombardo played their version of Auld Lang Syne.
午夜钟声敲响时，伦巴多演奏了属于他们版本的《友谊地久天长》。
Lombardo continued that tradition for nearly 50 years and when Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve started on TV in 1973, he would play Auld Lang Syne at midnight too.
伦巴多将这一传统延续了近50年，1973年迪克·克拉克的新年摇滚之夜开始在电视上播出时，他也会在午夜演奏《友谊地久天长》。
And after Clark, Ryan Seacrest did the same.
在克拉克之后，瑞安·西克雷斯特也做了同样的事。
So now at midnight, right after the ball drops, this is what you hear.
所以现在午夜，在水晶球降落后，这首歌就是你听到的。
It's still Lombardo's version.
依然是伦巴多的版本。
And this is why, for many, the song is so singularly associated with the nostalgia of another year past.
这就是对于许多人来说，这首歌与过去一年的怀旧之情如此奇特地联系在一起的原因。
So when this new year rolls around, even if you don't know all the words, sing along anyway.
所以当新年来临的时候，即使你不知道所有的歌词，也要跟着唱。
You won't be alone.
你不会是孤单一人。
