Auld Lang Syne/ Purano Shei Diner Kotha: Part - II.

Author's Note: The 1^st part can be read HERE.

Auld Lang Syne: The popular belief is that Robert Burns wrote "Auld Lang Syne" and this has been the subject of much debate. In short, though it is apparent that Burns "restored" the piece based on fragments of an old ballad dating from before his time, it can be reasonably concluded that Burns probably only added a few verses of his own - to the song. The most compelling evidence, however, is demonstrated in a letter from Burns to Mrs. Agnes Dunlop in which he comments:

              

"Light be the turf on breast of the heaven-inspired poet who composed this glorious fragment! There is more of the fire of native genius in it than in half a dozen of modern English Bacchanalians."

In this statement, Robert Burns was confirming that someone else had written this marvelous piece, albeit that the original words had been lost in the mists of time. His reference to "Light be the turf" means... the turf lying upon the writers grave. The "glorious fragment" confirms that Burns had taken the only known verses and added to them. His praise of the unknown writer's talent ("... the fire of native genius") demonstrates Burns great admiration for the words.   

On this basis, it has been concluded that Rabbie Burns certainly wrote at least two verses, which have been attributed to his style. (Verses 3 and 4) The other verses and the famous chorus are believed to have dated from the middle of the 16th century, if not before.

[Note: Here's Robert Burns' version of "Auld Lang Syne."]

The phrase: "Auld Lang Syne" - is also used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570–1638), Allan Ramsay (1686–1757) and James Watson (1711) as well as older folk songs predating Burns. Matthew Fitt uses the phrase, "In the days of auld lang syne" as the equivalent of "Once upon a time..." in his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language.

Burns sent a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum with the remark, "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man." [This old man is thought to have been an old shepherd from whose lips Burns first heard this song c. 1788. Later on, he added two new stanzas of his own - to the original Scottish song. Then in 1799, this song was formally published and has ever since been associated with Burns; rather been credited to him.]

Some of the lyrics were indeed "collected" rather than composed by the poet; the ballad "Old Long Syne" printed in 1711 by James Watson shows considerable similarity in the first verse and the chorus to Burns' later poem, and is almost certainly derived from the same "old song". It is a fair supposition to attribute the rest of the poem to Burns himself.

"Auld Lang Syne" is usually sung each year at midnight on New Year's Day (Hogmanay in Scotland) in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, and the English-speaking areas of India, Pakistan, and Canada ... and signifies the start of a new year.

It is used as a graduation song and a funeral song in Taiwan and Hong Kong, symbolizing an end or a goodbye. In Japan and Hungary, too, it is used in graduation, and many stores and restaurants play it to usher customers out at the end of a business day. In both the Indian Armed Forces and the Pakistani Military, the band plays this song during the graduating parade of the recruits. In the Philippines, it is well known and sung at celebrations like graduations, New Year and Christmas Day. Also, before 1972, it was the tune for the Gaumii salaam anthem of The Maldives (with the current words). In Thailand, it is used for Samakkkhi Chumnum (Together in unity), sung after sports. In Brazil, Portugal, France, Spain, Greece, Poland, and Germany this song is used to mark a farewell. It is also used in the Scout movement for the same purpose, but with somewhat different lyrics.

The tune to which "Auld Lang Syne" is universally sung is a pentatonic Scots folk melody, probably originally a sprightly dance in a much quicker tempo.

In the United States, the song is used as a song of remembrance at 9-11 memorials and other memorial events. The University of Virginia's alma mater ("The Good Old Song"), and the anthem of Alpha Kappa Psi, the largest professional business fraternity in the U.S., is both sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".

In India, the melody was the direct inspiration for the popular Bengali song "Purano shei diner kotha" (About the old days) composed by the great Nobel laureate Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore. And it forms one of the more recognizable tunes in Rabindra Sangeet (the songs of Rabindranath Tagore) - a treasure-trove of 2,230 songs and lyrical poems that form the backbone of Bengali (Bangla) music. In Japan, the Japanese students' song Hotaru no hikari ("Glow of a Firefly") uses the "Auld Lang Syne" tune. The words are a series of images of hardships that the industrious student endures in his relentless quest for knowledge, starting with the firefly’s light - that the student uses to keep studying when s/he has no other light sources.

The tune is also used for the Dutch football song, Wij houden van Oranje (We love Orange). In France, the melody is used with French words and the parting song is entitled Ce n’est qu’un au revoir (This is only 'until we meet again' [not goodbye]). In Indonesia, the melody is used as a farewell song that is commonly sung during graduation or farewell parties. In South Korea, the melody was used for their national anthem, Aegukga, until composer Ahn Eak-tai composed a new melody to the existing lyrics. In Italy, Italian football supporters are very familiar with this melody since the 1970s. It is often sung in stadiums during the matches, especially after the kick-off. Many Italian supporters of different regions and cities adopted this tune and arranged its lyrics according to their teams. These are the lyrics sung by A.S. Roma supporters: La nostra fede mai morrà/canteremo noì ultrà/e insieme a te saremo allor/forza Roma vinci ancor (Our faith will never die/we, the ultrà, will sing/then we'll be with you/come on Roma, win again). In Spain and in Poland, the Scouts movement - for their farewell song at the end of summer camps or just to say goodbye after big events - uses this tune.

So, I guess, one can safely conclude that "Auld Lang Syne" is indeed a very well traveled song.

"Your friend is your needs answered." So said the Lebanese-American artist, poet and writer - the great Kahlil Gibran.

And I say, true that! Wholeheartedly.

Frankly, there are no words to fully express the joys of having friends, especially friends that one can grow wise with. However, both the great bards – Robert Burns and Robi Thakur tried to, what say?

Here are Kahlil Gibran's complete words:

Your friend is your needs answered.

He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.

And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “ay.”

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

[by Kahlil Gibran (January 6, 1883 - April 10, 1931)

From The Prophet (1923)

Section - Friendship]

Do listen:

1. Julie Andrews singing Auld Lang Syne: Link.

2. Auld Lang Syne with Bagpipes: Link.

3. Auld Lang Syne (Celtic Version): Link.

4. Susan Boyle singing Auld Lang Syne: Link.

5. And here's the Bee Gees singing Black Diamond (YouTube link). The lyrics can be found: HERE.

Listen to them and be claimed by nostalgia!

[Concluded]

PS: Here's the Bee Gees' How Deep Is Your Love (link). Timeless, isn't it? Just couldn't resist mentioning it here and providing the link too. Enjoy!

PPS: As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) Scots Wha Hae served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today include A Red, Red Rose; A Man's A Man for A' That; To a Louse; To a Mouse; Halloween, The Battle of Sherramuir; Tam o' Shanter, and Ae Fond Kiss. To know more about this Scottish genius, hop on to: Link.

Photograph: The best-known portrait of Burns, by Alexander Nasmyth. Full view of the Nasmyth portrait of 1787, Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Pic. courtesy: Link.

Auld Lang Syne/ Purano Shei Diner Kotha: Part - I.

Gurudeb Rabindranath Tagore, Bishwakobi Robindronath Thakur - our very own Robi Thakur - was born on 7 May 1861 and sailed into the sunset leaving behind his considerable oeuvre and legacy - for us to savour - on 7 August 1941. This being the month of July - the official rainy season, though Mr. Rain is happily vacationing in Spain; yet the occasional pitter-patter of the raindrops brings to mind Robi Thakur's evergreen songs and poems. And that pretty much helped me to decide on what I want to write next.

I have an old friend, a friend from my schooldays and he is very good at playing the mouth organ. And though he lives in Japan now, he faithfully did his bit as our Cultural Ambassador there - playing Rabindrasangeeth at a concert - last year.

Now, Rabindrasangeeth (or the songs of Robindranath Tagore) is the most melodious of songs ... according to yours truly of course. And if this doesn't seal or giveaway my true blue bongololona roots, what will?! You agree, don't you? [Note: Mind it, I said roots and not grassroots :)]

But let me not digress.

Umm, so you want to know what tune my friend played? Well, he played Purano Shei Diner Kotha - penned by our much-loved poet laureate - and mesmerized his audience.

'Purano sei diner kotha bhulbi ki re hai o shei chokher dekha, praaner kotha shaykii bhola jaaye' - is about the beauty of days gone by. A nostalgic tune that brings you back your childhood, takes you through down memory lane.

Tagore particularly admired the celebrated 18th century Scottish poet and lyricist, Robert Burns (1759-96) - the one who penned O My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose. Burns is Scotland's national poet and is also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as The Bard.

He is regarded, as a pioneer of the Romantic Movement, and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and the Scottish Diaspora around the world.

As you may know, Tagore's "Purano shei diner kotha" (Memories of the Good Old Days) was inspired from the tunes of "Auld Lang Syne" - a Scottish poem composed by Robert Burns. Burns did not compose it per se but rather saved it from obscurity.

There is some doubt as to whether the melody used today is the same one Burns originally intended, but it is widely used in Scotland and in the rest of the world.

Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Eve very quickly became a Scots custom that soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (not to mention English, Welsh and Irish people) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.

As for us: much of our culture and heritage - including songs, poetry, folklore, art and music has been lost to the mists of time. Or has been twisted beyond recognition. Much of it - our heritage, that is - now revolves around whether women or girls, I mean the female of the species, should wear jeans. Must say, our self-proclaimed 'sons-of-the-soil' aka dhartiputra-s aka 'defenders of our ancient culture and traditions' are quite convinced that Levi Strauss also moonlighted as Manu's darzi. But ... the dhoti, panche or mundu has absolutely nothing to do with the upliftment of 'our ancient culture and traditions'. This is perhaps because it is difficult to uplift anything else let alone 'our ancient culture and traditions' ... while wearing them. One is too busy uplifting the dhoti, the panche or the mundu instead. Also these are major hindrances when the sundry 'defenders' and the 'sons-of-the-soil' have to answer their call of sacred duty whenever the womenfolk 'ask for it'. Tying them back on after having done one's duty is a momentous task indeed. Therefore selective amendments have been made ... so as to allow the inglees pants, better known as trousers, to sneak in.

Umm, I have been digressing yet again. My apologies. You see the compass is on a vacation. But henceforth I'll stick to the straight and narrow, I promise. So, lets retrace our steps.

In other cultures however, there are composers whose compositions have stood the test of time. Auld Lang Syne by Scotland's best-loved bard, Robert Burns (1759-1796) is one such example. This wonderful pentatonic tune influenced two popular compositions in Bangla. Tagore himself composed Purano Shei Diner Kotha based on it, while Suparnakanti Ghosh did the same many years later by injecting the tune verbatim - in order to introduce the lyrics of Gauriprasanna Majumder's Coffee House-r Shei Adda, that Manna De's golden vocal chords elevated to the status of anthem for the youth. The story of Burns ends here, very little of the rest of the genius of Burns lives on. Be that his poetry or his music. For many other popular Celtic or Scottish songs, the tune or composition has survived while the composer has gone into oblivion ... claimed by that wise, old man with a long, gray beard - also known as Father Time.

"Auld Lang Syne" ("s" rather than "z") is Scottish for "old long ago" or "a long time ago" or "old times". Consequently "For auld lang syne", as it appears in the first line of the chorus, might be loosely translated as "for (the sake of) old times".

[Note: "Auld Lang Syne" - the song's (Scots) title may be translated into English literally as, "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long, long ago" or "days gone by".]

In Scots syne is pronounced like the English word sign - IPA: [sain] - not [zain] as many people pronounce it.

As for 'Purano Sei Diner Kotha': The lyrics are so simple and yet so profound. Memories about the simple joys of life, shared with someone you love. Memories that are old sepia-tinted but cannot be forgotten. Memories of meeting of the eyes and heartfelt talks; memories of picking flowers together - early in the morning; memories of swinging on a swing and singing under the shade of a tree. Can one really forget those (g)olden days?

Who did Robi Thakur pen this for? Who did he have in mind - that inspired such timeless lyrics that also tugs at one's heartstrings?

Maybe he wrote it for Kadambari Debi - his much-adored sister-in-law-cum-childhood playmate - in her memory, that is. [Note: I am not completely sure though. The net  - particularly Prof. Google - wasn't of much help and none of my friends could throw any light on this. But, if any of you are aware of any more snippets, please do share.]

Tagore composed this song after he came back from England, and it was in England that he first heard this Scottish folk song: Auld Lang Syne. He has captured the pathos of parting, and used the same notes as were used in the original song ... with his amazing, vivid and lyrical imagination. So much so that it reaches in and touches the soul. Needless to say, 'Purano Sei Diner Kotha' is one of my favorite songs.

This song is about nostalgia, about loss of old friends and the hope of meeting them again. It is about the memories that remain in our hearts forever. It is about remembering those old times and wishing them back. It is about the friendships that we have let go of ... while we were too busy with ourselves ... only to realize one fine day what actually we have lost.

Here is the song in Bangla:

Purano shei diner kotha

Bhulbi kii re

Hai o shei chokher dekha, praaner kotha

Shaykii bhola jaaye

Aaye aar ektibar aayre shokha

Praner majhe aaye mora

Shukher dukher kotha kobo

Praan jodabe tai

Mora bhorer bela phuul tulechi, dulechi dolaaye

Bajiye baanshi gaan geyechi bokuler tolai

Hai majhe holo chadachadi, gelem ke kothaye,

Abaar dekha jodi holo shokha, praner majhe aai

And here is the English Translation (not mine though): it is not an exact text translation, but sort of:

Old times' tale - how could they be forgotten?

Lived through our eyes,

Words spurting from our hearts - sweet memories

Come once again ... to the embrace of the soul,

Sharing joys and woes, gratifying our hearts.

We gathered flowers in the dawn, swayed on the swing,

We sang songs and played the flute beneath the bokul tree

Alas we parted then, who knows where we went...

Now that we meet again, friends, let's embrace.

Here is a link to the fabulous Purano shei diner kotha - rendered by the evergreen Hemanta Mukhopadhyay: Link.

The lovely Purano shei diner kotha played in piano [along with piano notation]: Link. 

Link to the iconic Coffee House-r Shei Adda-ta Aaj Aar Nei, Aaj Aar Nei - rendered by Manna-da's golden vocals: Link  [Guitar chords: Link.]

[The Lyrics/ Coffee House-r Shei Adda-ta Aaj Aar Nei, Aaj Aar Nei: Link.]

Purano shei diner kotha – by the peerless Kishore Kumar (Kishore Kumar Ganguly): Link.

Purano shei diner kotha – By Srikanto Acharya: Link.

Purano shei diner kotha/ Auld Lang Sine: From the movie 'Ballygunge Court': Link.

(More later ...)

Photograph: Who else, but Winnie the Pooh! Found it while trawling the net. Don't remember the link though :(