Edinburgh, Scotland
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As “Auld Lang Syne” takes its annual spin around the globe on New Year’s Eve, its chorus belted out by revelers young and old, Edinburgh’s Poet Laureate Michael Pedersen says the song’s enduring power lies not in tradition alone, but in its uncanny ability to bind people together.
Pedersen, a prize-winning Scottish poet and author who is the current Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh and the city’s Makar, or Poet Laureate, told CNN that the song’s customary rendition at midnight on December 31 was never formally ordained — it simply felt right.
“For generations, it’s been sung at New Year because it’s…
