  We provide a simple lagrangian interpretation of the meaning of the $b_0^-$
semi-relative condition in closed string theory. Namely, we show how the
semi-relative condition is equivalent to the requirement that physical
operators be cohomology classes of the BRS operators acting on the space of
local fields {\it covariant} under world-sheet reparametrizations. States
trivial in the absolute BRS cohomology but not in the semi-relative one are
explicitly seen to correspond to BRS variations of operators which are not
globally defined world-sheet tensors. We derive the covariant expressions for
the observables of topological gravity. We use them to prove a formula that
equates the expectation value of the gravitational descendant of ghost number 4
to the integral over the moduli space of the Weil-Peterson K\"ahler form.
