Dream Theater’s ‘Pull Me Under’ Almost Didn’t Make the Album

Artists have some very pivotal decisions to make throughout their careers, and Dream Theater almost made one that could have changed their whole trajectory. Mike Portnoy, who recently rejoined the group, explained how the song “Pull Me Under” almost didn’t make the album during a recent special with Drumeo.

“Pull Me Under” is the opening track on Dream Theater’s 1992 sophomore album Images and Words. In the video uploaded by Drumeo, Portnoy discussed the song’s origins and demonstrated how to play it on the drums, making it the first time he’s publicly played the song in over 13 years.

Portnoy left the band in September of 2010, and it was just announced that he’s returned in October, replacing Mike Mangini. So, according to Setlist.fm, the last time the drummer played “Pull Me Under” with Dream Theater was in July of 2010 when they were opening for Iron Maiden.

“It was only announced that I’m rejoining Dream Theater, only a few weeks ago at the point of filming this. So for me to play this now, it’s kind of just like riding a bicycle. The muscle memory is there for life, it’ll be there forever,” Portnoy said.

Earlier in the video, though, the rocker admitted that they almost didn’t include the track on Images and Words. 

“‘Pull Me Under’ was the song that put Dream Theater on the map. I think it’s pretty safe to say if we didn’t write that song, I wouldn’t be sitting here today,” he said, adding that it wasn’t going to be on the album until their A&R representative, Derek Oliver, suggested they write another song that was “a little more concise.”

READ MORE: James LaBrie Names the Best Song for Someone Just Getting Into Dream Theater (It’s Not ‘Pull Me Under’)

Though the result wasn’t a track that was particularly concise in length, Portnoy described it as “easily digestible,” and noted that it’s not very difficult to play on the drums either. Later in the video, he recalled times where he would change up the tempo while they were performing it live because he got bored of playing it the same way over and over again for decades.

See the entire video, which includes a breakdown of how to play the song’s different parts and then a full performance, below.

Mike Portnoy Says Dream Theater’s ‘Pull Me Under’ Almost Didn’t Make the Album