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
Make way oh make way
for my Eastern Rose
Men crowd in dozens everywhere she goes
In her rickshaw on the street
or in a cabaret
Please make way 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 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
Rose Rose I leave you
my ship is in the bay
Kiss me farewell now
there's nothing 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
Rose Rose I love you