king belshazzar of babylon
feasted with a thousand lords
praising gods of silver
and the gods of brass and gold
sounds of lust and luxury
they echoed down the hall
then came the writing on the wall

ghostly fingers wrote the words
that filled the king with dread
mene mene tekel
upharsin is what it said
wise men and astrologers
could make no sense at all
of the message written on the wall

go fetch daniel of judah
cried the queen to belshazzar
this great dreamer served
your father nebuchadnezzar
daniel knew this prideful
king was surely doomed to fall
when he read the writing on the wall

babylon will crumble you've been
weighed and found too light
belshazzar the mighty king was
slayed that very night
great cyrus of persia
would soon be king of all
just as it was written on the wall

mighty god weighed belshazzar
and stuck him down like swine
for his days were numbered
just the same as yours and mine
so don't fear the bell that tolls
or raven when he calls
but do fear the
writing on the wall