What is your future? now we have to part
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away
Flower of Malaya I cannot stay
Men crowd in dozens everywhere she goes
In her rickshaw on the street or in a cabaret
All my life I shall remember
Oriental music and you in my arms
Perfumed flowers in your tresses
Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms
Fragrant and slender 'neath tropical skies
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)
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
What is your future? now we have to part
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away
Flower of Malaya I cannot stay