Sing "Dixie" Tonight After "Auld Lang Syne"

From Rebellion:

Sing "Dixie" tonight after "Auld Lang Syne"from feed/http://www.dixienet.org/rebellion/atom.xml by Old RebelTonight, as you savor your Mint Juleps and join in with friends and family to welcome the New Year, don't forget to sing the traditional New Year's anthem, "Auld Lang Syne." And be sure to sing "Dixie" as well, because the two songs complement each other.




Everyone knows that "Auld Lang Syne" is a song of remembrance of treasured days:



Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

and days of auld lang syne?



For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne



Loved ones we have lost still touch our hearts, and they will always remain a part of us because we will remember them. But present-day relationships make life worth living today, and the song includes this pledge to those who are close to us now:



And here's a hand, my trusty friend,

And gie's a hand o' thine;

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne



Loved ones we have lost still touch our hearts, and they will always remain a part of us because we will remember them. But present-day relationships make life worth living today, and the song includes this pledge to those who are close to us now:




And here's a hand, my trusty friend,

And gie's a hand o' thine;

We'll take a cup o' kindness yet

For auld lang syne



"Dixie" also recognizes the bonding of past and present by celebrating the history that is a vital part of who we are:



Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,

Old times there are not forgotten,

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land.



In Dixie Land, where I was born in,

early on one frosty mornin',

Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land.



"Dixie" also includes this promise to go forward while remaining true to the past:



I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!

In Dixie Land I'll take my stand

to live and die in Dixie.

Away, away, away down South in Dixie.

Away, away, away down South in Dixie.



These songs celebrate our connections with our loved ones of the past and present, connections that make us mindful of things beyond ourselves -- connections that make us human. In an age when loyalty, patriotism, and love of one's own are attacked as anachronisms, when our only concern is supposed to be maximizing the bottom line, and the only values that matter are those of the deracinated, isolated psychopath, it's good to remind ourselves that stubborn human nature persists despite the pressure from our handlers. Let's take a cup.