2021Released
6:13

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about The Writing on the Wall. By Songfacts®.

"The Writing On The Wall" is an idiomatic expression that suggests an imminent event that will bring trouble or disaster. It is based on the Old Testament account of King Belshazzar, a Babylonian crown prince who held a grand feast. When a mysterious hand appeared and wrote on the wall, he summoned Daniel, a figure known for his wisdom, to decipher the writing. He informed Belshazzar, a known blasphemer, that the writing on the wall is a warning that he's been weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom will be delivered to the Medes and the Persians. Though this song doesn't directly reference the biblical story, it uses its lesson to deliver a message of upcoming doom and destruction. Singer Bruce Dickinson warns that terrible times are around the corner, but not everyone can see that a storm is coming. He implores the listener to take heed of the signs.

Iron Maiden released "The Writing On The Wall" on July 15, 2021. It was the first fresh music for the British metal trailblazers since 2015's The Book Of Souls album. The long-anticipated track came in the wake of a cryptic teaser campaign that began with posters and flyers emblazoned with "Belshazzar's Feast" in tandem with the letters "WOTW." A week before dropping the song, Dickinson called on fans to attend "The Feast" on July 15.

Bruce Dickinson wrote the song with Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith. Longtime producer Kevin "The Caveman" Shirley produced the track with bassist and founding member Steve Harris. Shirley previously worked with Iron Maiden on Brave New World (2000), Dance Of Death (2003), A Matter of Life and Death (2006), The Final Frontier (2009) and The Book of Souls (2015).

Top Listeners

Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of The Writing on the Wall.
DKey
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
90BPM

Album

The album The Writing on the Wall is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released The Writing on the Wall.
Parlophone UK
under exclusive licence to Parlophone Records Limited., © 2021 Iron Maiden LLP
under exclusive licence to Parlophone Records Limited., ℗ 2021 Iron Maiden LLP

See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.

Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.

5.8MArtists
73.6MSongs
12.3MAlbums
6.3KGenres
2.5MLabels
493KPlaylists