I've listened to the words all my life (over 70 years) but don't know what the words mean...?

Literally it is "old long ago" or "old long since" in old Scots.

"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294).

The meaning of the song would fit a scenerio something like this ... You walk into a pub on New Years Eve and see an old friend whom you haven't seen for many, many years. You sit together and toast all the good times that you have had long ago, and decide that any squabbles you may have had will be forgotten for old times' sake.

Over the years the song has become the song to sing at midnight on New Year's Eve. And people all over the world recognize and sing "Auld Lang Syne," -- which, loosely translated, means "days gone by" or "days long gone," but literally means "old long since" -- to say farewell to the old year and herald the new.

From the poem by Robert Burns.

Thanks. I learned something