ringing out the old

Auld Lang Syne
(Old Long Since, or, Long Ago)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne* ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

(The English version of an old Scots-Dialect song taken down by Robbie Burns, in Scotland, in 1788)

December 31st, traditionally known in Scotland as Hogmanay, is the last night of the old year. It's a time to gather with family and friends to share food and drink as you look back over the past year, and prepare for the next. The house should be spruced up, table set, candles lit, food served, and family and friends of long ago and far away remembered with toasts made and tales told.
As midnight approaches arms are clasped and Auld Lang Syne sung. At the stroke of midnight, bells peal, kisses and hugs are exchanged, and doors are flung open to let in the fresh, cold air of the New Year. Then out everyone pours, into the night, to ring in the New Year with light and noise. Later, as we come back in, the "first footer" (first of the New Year to cross the threshold) receives a gift (a sip of whisky, or a sweet or salty treat).

Now, I'm wondering...when did we decide that our New Year's celebrations had to be costly and distant? When did our fellow celebrants become strangers who had purchased tickets to the same event? When did pop singers start to do our singing and dancing for us? When did New York become the official venue of the New Year? Isn't the world round? Doesn't the New Year still arrive at each of our doorsteps in the fullness of, well, time? Why, then, do we feel so removed as we gaze pathetically from our couches at the lucky pilgrims to Time Square's calendrical mecca? And when, exactly, did the singing of "New York, New York" replace "Auld Lang Syne"? I'm just wondering...