Song Lyrics

By the old Moulmein Pagoda lookin' eastward to the sea
There's a Burma broad a settin and I know she thinks of me
For the wind is in those palm trees and the temple bells, they say
Come you back, you British soldier
Come you back to Mandalay
Come you back to Mandalay

Come you back to Mandalay where the old flotilla lay
Can't ya hear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay where the flyin' fishes play
And the dawn comes up like thunder out of China 'cross the bay

Ship me somewhere east of Suez where the best is like the worst
Where there ain't no Ten Commandments and a cat can raise a thirst
'Cause those crazy bells are callin' and it's there that I would be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda lookin' lazy at the sea
Lookin' lazy at the sea

Come you back to Mandalay where the old flotilla lay
Can't ya hear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay where the flyin' fishes play
And the dawn comes up like thunder

Oley Speaks, Rudyard Kipling