Fallout Wiki
Advertisement
Fallout Wiki
Here and now got its ups and downs, but... focusing on the past, like it was any better? That's just Old World Blues.Blind Diode Jefferson

Old World Blues is a post-War term for an extreme form of nostalgia for a time before the Great War.

Original meaning[]

The term is used to describe a form of depression and anxiety, manifesting as an unhealthy obsession with the Old World. The blues cause the affected person to distance themselves from the world around them, withdraw from society, and become apathetic. Old World Blues can destroy valuable members of society, rendering them incapable of properly functioning in the present and planning for the future.[1][2]

New meaning[]

"Old World Blues, New World Hope"

After the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the term has evolved. Paired with the expression "New World Hope," it slowly stopped being used to refer to a disorder of wistful yearning and began a new life as an expression describing the potential for the future. Old World Blues and New World Hope became inseparable parts.[3]

"Old World Blues, New World Misery"

Alternatively, it could be paired with the expression "New World Misery," a withering form of nostalgia for times long past. Viewing Science as evil, technology unchecked as the source of all ills, all misfortunes. It was all this and more.[4]

Appearances[]

The expression "Old World Blues" appears in Fallout: New Vegas[5] and the add-on Old World Blues.

Behind the scenes[]

Old World Blues shares similarities with Anemoia, a term coined in 2012 by John Koenig in The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows to describe emotions that did not have words. Anemoia is used to describe nostalgia for a time or place one has never known. However, while coined in 2012, Old World Blues predates it by two years having been first mentioned in Fallout: New Vegas.

References[]

  1. Blind Diode Jefferson: "Look who's back to kick off the dust. Hope you ain't still singing them Old World Blues."
    (Blind Diode Jefferson's dialogue)
  2. Old World Blues endings:
    Doctor Mobius: "There is an expression in the Wasteland: "Old World Blues.""
    Doctor Klein: "It refers to those so obsessed with the past they can't see the present, much less the future, for what it is."
    Doctor Dala: "They stare into the what-was, eyes like pilot lights, guttering and spent, as the realities of their world continue on around them."
    Doctor 0: "Science is a long, steady progression into the future. What may seem a sudden event often isn't felt for years, even centuries, to come."
  3. Old World Blues endings:
    Doctor Mobius: "In the times following the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, however, Old World Blues took on a new meaning."
    Doctor Klein: "Where once it was viewed as a form of sadness, nostalgia, it became an expression describing the potential for the future."
    Doctor Dala: "It can be easy to see Science as evil, technology unchecked as the source of all ills, all misfortunes."
    The Courier's brain: "With the Courier at the helm, Science became a beacon for the future. There was Old World Blues, and New World Hope. And hope ruled the day at Big MT."
  4. Old World Blues endings:
    Doctor Mobius: "The Big Empty lived up to its name, a hollow crater of failures of a past era, a last, sad statement of the Old World."
    Doctor Klein: "In the time following the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, "Old World Blues" became more than a catch phrase."
    Doctor 0: "It became a reality, a withering form of nostalgia for times long past."
    Doctor Dala: "It can be easy to see Science as evil, technology unchecked as the source of all ills, all misfortunes."
    The Courier's brain: "With the Courier at the helm, it was all this and more. Old World Blues, New World Misery - the two became one in the Courier's shadow."
  5. The Courier: "What's wrong?"
    Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Aside from the TV-faced robots, the dust, and the old man smell in every room? Nothing, it's a paradise. This place has the Old World Blues about it. Everything in here feels like it should have passed on a long time ago. Hell, it's hard to believe Vegas is right outside. So, yeah, I'm looking to leave whenever you're ready."
    (Rose of Sharon Cassidy's dialogue)
Advertisement