By the old Mulmein pagoda
Lookin' eastward to the sea
There’s a Burma girl a-setting
And I know she thinks of me.
For the wind is in the palm trees,
And the temple bells they say
Come you back you British soldier,
Come you back to Mandalay.
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old flotilla lay,
Can’t you hear those paddles chunking
From Rangoon to Mandalay,
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flying fishes play,
And the dawn comes up like thunder,
Out of China, crost the bay.
If there’s something east of Suez,
Where the best is like the worst,
Where they’re ain’t no ten commandments,
And a man can raise a thirst,
For the temple bells are calling,
And it’s there that I will be,
By the old Mulmein pagoda,
Looking lazy at the sea,
Looking lazy at the sea,
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old flotilla lay,
Can’t you hear their paddles chunking,
From Rangoon to Mandalay,
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin' fishes play,
And the dawn comes up like thunder
Out of China crost the bay.