Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart.
What is your future, now we have to part?
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away,
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay.
Mei Kwei, oh, Mei Kwei for my Eastern Rose.
Men crowd in dozens everywhere she goes.
In her rickshaw on the street or in a cabaret,
"Please Mei Kwei for Rose," you can hear them say.
All my life I shall remember,
Oriental music and you in my arms.
Perfumed flowers in your tresses,
Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms.
Rose, Rose I love you with your almond eyes.
Fragrant and slender 'neath tropical sky.
I must cross the seas again and never see you more.
Way back to my home on a distant shore.
(All my life I shall remember,)
(Oriental music and you in my arms.)
(Perfumed flowers in your tresses,)
(Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms.)
Rose, Rose I leave you, my ship is in the bay.
Kiss me farewell now, there's nothin' to say.
East is East and West is West, our worlds are far apart.
I must leave you now but I leave my heart.
Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart.
What is your future, now we have to part?
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away,
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay.