Oley Speaks set to music a portion of Kipling's poem Mandalay, 1890,[2] from Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses, published in 1892 and 1896.

The song changes tonality as each of the three verses reaches the chorus, shifting dramatically from minor to major.

[5] Famous baritone singers have recorded the song, from operatic artists, such as Lawrence Tibbett, Leonard Warren and Thomas Hampson, and concert artists, such as Peter Dawson, to more popular singers such as Nelson Eddy and Frankie Laine, and even Frank Sinatra, who sang a jazzy, controversial arrangement in which elements of the Kipling text were changed (notably Temple-bells becoming crazy bells), included in his album Come Fly with Me.

In a selection of comments on various topics, The New York Times said, "We applaud Mrs. Bambridge on her defense of good taste against the inroads of 'slanguage.'

"[8] The song was performed by baritone Robert Merrill at the February 1968 US state dinner for British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, hosted by US President Johnson.

The song (as well as I Got Plenty o' Nuttin', also performed by Merrill), were seen to be a message of Johnson's displeasure at Wilson's inaction on the Vietnam War.