Davon geht die Welt nicht unter

• By: Zarah Leander

Lyrics:

Vocabulary in this song:

Vocabulary	Meanings
Herz /hɛʁt͡s/ A1	noun - heart
liebt /liːpt/ A1	verb - loves
unglücklich /ˈʊnˌɡlʏklɪç/ B1	adjective - unhappy
Kummer /ˈkʊmɐ/ B2	noun - grief, sorrow
betrübt /bəˈtryːpt/ B2	adjective - saddened
Mensch /mɛnʃ/ A1	noun - person, human
versteht /fɛɐ̯ˈʃteːt/ A2	verb - understands
Sehnsucht /ˈzeːnˌzʊxt/ C1	noun - longing, yearning
Welt /vɛlt/ A1	noun - world
grau /ɡʁaʊ̯/ A1	adjective - gray
bunter /ˈbʊntɐ/ B1	adjective - more colorful
himmelblau /ˈhɪml̩ˌblaʊ̯/ B1	adjective - sky blue
Schädel /ˈʃɛːdl̩/ B2	noun - skull
graut /ɡʁaʊ̯t/ C1	verb - to fill with dread
gebraucht /ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xt/ A2	verb - needed, used

Grammar:

• Wenn mal mein Herz unglücklich liebt

  ➔ Subjunctive Mood (Konjunktiv I) and Temporal Clause with 'wenn'

  ➔ The 'Wenn mal...' introduces a hypothetical situation (if ever my heart loves unhappily). 'liebt' is in the subjunctive I mood (Konjunktiv I) to express this hypothetical situation. Temporal clauses with 'wenn' describe when something happens.

• Ist es vor Kummer unsagbar betrübt

  ➔ Passive Voice construction with 'sein' and adjective

  ➔ 'betrübt' (sad) is used with the verb 'sein' ('ist') to describe the state of the heart, indicating a passive state of being saddened.

• Alles ist aus

  ➔ Idiomatic expression

  ➔ The phrase 'Alles ist aus' is an idiomatic expression meaning 'Everything is over' or 'It's all finished'. It doesn't literally translate to 'everything is out'.

• Wo ist ein Mensch, der mich versteht?

  ➔ Relative Clause ('der mich versteht')

  ➔ The phrase 'der mich versteht' is a relative clause that modifies 'ein Mensch' (a person). 'der' is the relative pronoun and 'mich versteht' is the verb phrase describing the person.

• So hab ich manchmal voll Sehnsucht gefleht

  ➔ Inversion (verb before subject) and Perfect Tense

  ➔ The normal word order would be 'Ich habe so manchmal... gefleht'. The verb 'hab' comes before the subject 'Ich' due to an adverbial phrase ('So...Sehnsucht') being placed at the beginning of the sentence. 'Gefleht' uses the perfect tense (Perfekt) with the auxiliary verb 'haben'.

• Davon geht die Welt nicht unter

  ➔ Fixed phrase with negative implication

  ➔ This is a common idiom meaning 'The world won't end because of it' or 'It's not the end of the world'. 'Davon' refers to the previous situation, e.g. heartbreak.

• Sieht man sie manchmal auch grau

  ➔ Impersonal 'man' and adverbial clause of concession

  ➔ 'man' is used as an impersonal pronoun, meaning 'one' or 'you' in a general sense. The 'auch wenn' clause introduces a concession, acknowledging something that is contrary to the main statement but doesn't negate it.

• Einmal wird sie wieder bunter

  ➔ Future Tense with 'werden'

  ➔ 'wird' + infinitive form of the verb is used to express future actions. Here, 'wird... bunter' expresses that it *will* become more colorful.

• Wenn uns der Schädel auch graut

  ➔ Genitive Case (der Schädel) and impersonal verb 'grauen'

  ➔ 'Der Schädel' is in the genitive case, although often replaced with dative in colloquial German. 'Grauen' is an impersonal verb meaning something causes dread or makes one shudder. The construction 'Es graut mir vor...' (I dread...) is more common but the sentiment is the same. The meaning translates to 'Even if we dread it/it scares us'.