Weltschmerz

Some are not easily translatable between languages: Germans use “Weltschmerz” to refer to a feeling of melancholy caused by the state of the world.

Many of Untitled Goose Game’s relatively young players are, it seems fair to assume, suffering from a sense of Weltschmerz.

With its impressionistic opening giving way to sweeping melodies, the work has an appealing throwback glamour with touches of Mahlerian Weltschmerz and just a hint of jazzy swing.

Her expression remains neutral even when touching on incendiary topics such as police brutality or when answering obtuse questions from white people as though to indicate a certain Weltschmerz.

“I’m not into the mood of Weltschmerz,” he says, using the German word for world weariness that describes how many are feeling these days.