I COVER THE WATERFRONT
Johnny Green (m) Edward Heyman (l) 1933


Recorded by: Louis Armstrong; Tony Bennett; Ivy Benson; 
Connee Boswell; Ruby Braff; Benny Carter; Doc Cheatham; 
Rosemary Clooney; Ray Conniff; Sammy Davis Jr.; 
Buddy DeFranco; Eddie Duchin; Billy Eckstine; 
Duke Ellington; Ella Fitzgerald; Roy Fox; Erroll Garner; 
Dizzy Gillespie; Jackie Gleason; Lionel Hampton; 
Woody Herman; Eddie Heywood; Earl Hines; Billie Holiday; 
Leslie "Hutch" Hutchinson; The Ink Spots; Harry James; 
Etta Jones; Cleo Laine; Frankie Laine; Peggy Lee; 
Little Anthony & the Imperials; Shelly Manne; 
Anita O'Day; Charlie Parker; Oscar Peterson; 
Django Reinhardt; Buddy Rich; Artie Shaw; 
George Shearing; Zoot Sims; Frank Sinatra; Kay Starr; 
Dakota Staton; Art Tatum; Jack Teagarden; Mel Tormé; 
Sarah Vaughan; Paul Weston; ..... and many more.


I cover the waterfront,
I'm watching the sea,,
Will the one I love,
Be coming back to me?

I cover the waterfront,
In search of my love,
And I'm covered by,
A starless sky above.

(chorus)
Here am I,
Patiently waiting,
Hoping and longing,
Oh! How I yearn!
Where are you?
Are you forgetting?
Do you remember?
Will you return?

I cover the waterfront,
I'm watching the sea,
For the one I love,
Must come back to me.

(end song with repeat of chorus & last verse)

******

as rec by Annette Hanshaw March 6th 1933 New York


Away from the city that hurts and mocks,
I'm standing alone by the desolate docks
In the still and the chill of the night.
I see the horizon, the great unknown,
My heart has an ache, it's as heavy as stone;
Will the dawn coming on make it light?

I cover the waterfront, I'm watching the sea,
Will the one I love be coming back to me?
I cover the waterfront, in search of my love,
And I'm covered by a starless sky above.

Here am I, patiently waiting,
Hoping and longing, oh how I yearn!
Where are you, are you forgetting?
Do you remember, will you return?

I cover the waterfront, I'm watching the sea,
For the one I love must soon come back to me!

I cover the waterfront, I'm watching the sea,
Will the one I love be coming back to me?
I cover the waterfront, in search of my love,
And I'm covered by a starless sky above.

Here am I, lonely, wanting you only,
Oh how I yearn!
Where are you, loved one?  Come to me, sweetheart,
Say you'll return!

I cover the waterfront, I'm watching the sea,
For the one that I love must surely come back to me,
Someday, somehow, sometime!



(Transcribed by Peter Akers - September 2011)