The common explanation goes that it was inspired the questions raised by Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Prince Hamlet swore vengeance on King Claudius for murdering his father, the former King, and then marrying his mother, still Queen. Hamlet’s famous Soliloquy was the passage in which the conflict in Hamlet’s mind is detailed, and the second verse of “Pull Me Under” coincides pretty thoroughly with it. Prince Hamlet was feeling conflicted about his revenge and death, and the famous soliloquy “To be or not to be” can be found directly referenced in “Pull Me Under”: “To take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them” and “To suffer the slings and arrows”. This soliloquy outlines Hamet’s contemplation of suicide and his fear of beign sent to hell for it.
Furthermore, the song lyrics state “Watch the sparrow falling gives new meaning to it all” which refers to Hamlet telling Horatio that if it is time to die, then so be it “There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all. Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows what is’t to leave betimes, let be.”.
“I’ll take seven lives for one, and then my only father’s son” – this refers to Hamlet taking, either directly or as the cause of events of his own actions, the lives of Polonious, Ophelia, Claudius, Gertrude, Laertes, Rozencrantz, and Guildenstern — and Hamlet himself (his fathers only son).
The very end of the song James can be heard singing this line from Hamlet:
Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt”
This line in and of itself has some debate as to whether the word should be “sullied” or “solid” – even Shakesperian scolars disagree. It has been debated whether Shakespeare intended “solid” to be actually “sallied”, a form of the word “sullied.” The second quarto of Hamlet contains “sallied”, but the First Folio prints it as “solid”. Modern editors have been quite divided on the issue. Editors of The Arden Shakespeare have chosen to use “sullied”, while editors of The New Cambridge Shakespeare have decided upon “solid.” The reasoning for the use of “solid” is fairly evident, as it logically corresponds to “would melt”
Lastly, after seeing the video, in an interview, Portnoy said “Who the hell was that wolfman guy in the video anyway? We had written it based on something else entirely”. Portnoy noted that while Moore did not write PMU about Hamlet specifically, he did write PMU about what Hamlet was about. Same themes and ideas and so forth.
Pull Me Under has become the most known song by Dream Theater. It is their only “hit single”, giving name to the “Greatest Hit (… and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)” compilation. It holds the record as being the most played live song.
The demo version (available on the Ytsejam Records release Images “And Words Demos 1989-1991”) was called Oliver’s Twist, and contained an additional instrumental section which was excised during the recording stages and later became a part of “Erotomania”.
