Mandalay / Road to Mandalay / By the old Moulmein Pagoda mp3 midi free download beach motel Sechelt bed breakfast

Mandalay

Melody -

Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936

By the old Moulmein Pagoda,
Lookin' eastward to the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin',
And I know she thinks o' 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 'ear their paddles chunkin'
From Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder
Outer China 'crost the Bay!

'Er petticoat was yaller
An' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat -
Jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smoking
Of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses
On an 'eathen idol's foot:
Bloomin' idol made o' mud -
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd -
Plucky lot she cared for idols
When I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder
Outer China 'crost the Bay!

When the mist was on the rice-fields
An' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo an'
She'd sing, "Kulla-lo-lo!"
With 'er arm upon my shoulder
An' 'er cheek agin' my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an'
The hathis piling teak.
Elephints a-pilin' teak
In the sludgy, squudgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy
You was 'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder
Outer China 'crost the Bay!
But that's all shove be'ind me -
Long ago an' fur away,
An' there ain't no 'busses runnin'
From the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London
What the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard the East a-callin',
You won't never 'eed naught else."
No! you won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees
An' the tinkly temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder
Outer China 'crost the Bay!

I am sick o' wastin' leather
On these gritty pavin' stones,
An' the blasted English drizzle
Wakes the fever in my bones;
'Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids
Outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o' lovin',
But wot do they understand?
Beefy face an' grubby 'and -
Law! wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden
In a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder
Outer China 'crost the Bay!

Ship me somewheres east of Suez,
Where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments
An' a man can raise a thirst;
For the temple-bells are callin',
And it's there that I would be -
By the old Moulmein Pagoda,
Looking lazy at the sea;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings
When we went to Mandalay!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin'-fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder
Outer China 'crost the Bay!