Early New Years Eve promotion. 200 dpi.

What do the words in the song mean?

The title of the Scottish tune translates to “times gone by” and is about remembering friends from the past and not letting them be forgotten.
Despite its strong association with New Year’s Eve, “Auld Lang Syne,” written by Robert Burns in the 1700s, was never intended to be a holiday song. Guy Lombardo is credited with popularizing the song when his band used it as a segue between two radio programs during a live performance at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in 1929. By coincidence, they played “Auld Lang Syne” just after the clock hit midnight, and a New Year’s tradition was born.

From an ABC News post on NYE.

This cover isn't quite that old but is from the 1950's.