Coldplay & Shakespeare: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

Last night, on my lunch break at the bookstore, I put on my headphones and listened to Viva La Vida on shuffle. During my sonic excursions I began to notice a theme that I touched upon on my initial review of Viva La Vida. I noticed that there were images of death, sleep and acts while dreaming sprinkled throughout the songs.

This is when my English major mindset went to work dissecting the lyrics and by comparing them to a classic line from Shakespeare. I have a theory that same theme death, sleep and dreams heard throughout Viva La Vida can be traced to Hamlet's eloquent soliloquy "To Be or Not to Be" and especially the line, "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come."

From the beginning, Viva La Vida starts off with a soundtrack to a living daydream called Life In Technicolor. From then on you can see below the lyrics that can be linked to line from To Be or Not to Be in Hamlet.

Then in Cemeteries Of London
"The morning is for sleeping"

Lost
"Every gun you ever held went off
Ohhh and I'm just waiting 'til the firing's stopped
Ohhh and I'm just waiting 'til the shine wears off" (allusions to death)

42
"Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living in my head"

Lovers of Japan
"Dreaming
Of when the morning comes"

Reign of Love
"Locust wind
Lift me up " (allusion to dreaming)

Yes
"They were dying of frustration"

Chinese Sleep Chant
"Sleep satisfies "

Viva La Vida
"Now in the morning I sleep alone"

Violet Hill
"When I'm dead and hit the ground"

Strawberry Swing
"Now my feet won't touch the ground" (allusion to dream or even dying)

Death and all of his Friends
"I don't want to follow death and all of his friends"

The Escapist
"And in the end
We lie awake
And we dream of making our escape "

Listen for yrself, spin Viva La Vida and re-read Hamlet's To Be or Not to Be soliloquy to find out if see similar themes in both.