Music by Billy Strayhorn
Lyrics by Lorraine Feather

(Vocal version of "Chelsea Bridge"; recorded by Cleo Laine & Mercer Ellington, and by Full Swing)

We've been waiting for a September rain
To clear the air again
Week in, week out, waiting

We've been listening for the slightest breeze
Amoing the thirsty trees
Hillsides, valleys, list'ning

Every avenue in town's looking
Dusty and brown
We wander with a summer malaise
Hoping soon to leave far behind us
Troubled nights, and these feverish days

We've been waiting for a September rain
To cool the earth again
Morning, evening, waiting

Will it ever end, this summer
Everyone I know here
Is dreaming of a rainy cool November
And it's true
When a chill's in the air, you are
More inclined to fall in love with someone
Sitting all alone here, I
Can't escape a fiery sun that
Pours down on the land
The grass is crumbling beneath my hand

Not a swallow in the sky
They’re too lazy to fly
Time passes in a strange, languid way
There’s a road that meets the horizon
But it’s too hot for trav’lin today

We've been waiting for a September rain
To cool the earth again
Morning, evening
Waiting for a late September rain