Cover Versions

Today I’m looking at the question of which Esperanto songs have been covered?

By this, I’m referring to songs that were originally written and recorded in Esperanto and then re-recorded by a different artist. As far as I know, all of these cover versions are also in Esperanto, but if there are any songs that were originally recorded in Esperanto and then covered in a different language, they would also be in scope.

Specifically excluded is the much more common case of songs that were originally written in another language and then covered in Esperanto translation. These songs are very common, and indeed until about the 1980s translations were the most common type of Esperanto song. I’m also excluding songs that were originally written and published as sheet music rather than as recordings. There are plenty of records of La Espero, for example, but nobody thinks of them as covers of Gladys Cosmetto’s original recording.

Finally, I’m also excluding unrecorded concert performances and informal recordings, as these are too numerous to mention and in many cases are difficult to document reliably. A cover version, for the purposes of this article, refers to either a studio recording or a live performance that is professionally recorded and mastered for release.

Re-recordings by the Same Artist

We begin with a category of recordings that are not really cover versions, but are close enough that it would feel incomplete to ignore them: songs that have been recorded in the studio more than once by the same artist. These are surprisingly common in Esperanto music - in fact I can think of more Esperanto songs that fit this description than I can English songs!

Ralph Glomp is the most prolific re-recorder. His songs Komune and Se Vi Amas Min Ne Plu (originally from his 2005 EP Komune), and Larmoj Sekiĝas per Kares’, Somernokta Ŝanhaj’, Hodiaŭ Estas Bela Somertag’ and Falas la Mask’ (originally from his 2003 album Ĵus per Kares’) were all re-recorded for his 2017 album Jen Venas Glomp. In 2010, a re-issued version of Ĵus per Kares’ also included most of the original versions of the songs from the Komune EP. Ralph has also recorded most of his songs in German, and one in English - and although this article is specifically about songs originally in Esperanto, Ralph’s work is included here as he is the original artist in all languages, and in most cases the original Esperanto versions were released around the same time as the German versions, making it difficult to say which is the “original” and which is the translation. A particular mention must go to his song Moonlight Over Shanghai / Sommernacht in Shanghai / Somernokta Ŝanhaj’, of which Ralph has recorded no fewer than seven versions: one in English (1989), two in Esperanto (2003 and 2017), and four in German (1989, 2003 (not online, but with the same music as the 2003 Esperanto version), 2010 and 2017)!

Inicialoj DC’s 2010 album Urbano consists entirely of 13 re-recordings by the same artist (although in this case all songs that he had previously recorded in other languages), plus nine bonus tracks of the collected Esperanto songs from his previous releases.

La Pafklik recorded two different versions of the song Fek al Esperanto, both of which appear on the album of the same name. Gijom’ Armide’s “waltz version” of the song is, strictly speaking, outside the scope of this article (as it is an informally recorded concert performance) but deserves a mention nonetheless.

Rock version

G-funk version

Persone released two songs in different versions: Reĝoj de Cindro on the 1995 Vinilkosmo-Kompil’ vol. 1 and on their own 1996 album Povus Esti Simple, and Revoj on Povus Esti Simple and their 2002 acoustic album Sen. This album also included two songs that had previously appeared on other albums: Lasu Min Sonĝi (from …Sed Estas Ne) and Nun Mallumas Ekstere (from Povus Esti Simple); these, however, are the exact same recordings on both albums, although the latter was remastered.

Dolchamar’s song Junaj Idealistoj appeared in an electronic version on the Elektronika Kompilo and a rock version on their own album Rebela Sono. They also released an entire album in two different versions: Trajn Nenien’ is essentially a remastered version of Trejn tu Noŭer with the non-Esperanto sections of the lyrics replaced with Esperanto.

Amplifiki recorded two versions of their song Mi Volas Ŝin - firstly for the 1990 Vinilkompileto de Vinilkosmo (where it was listed as Mi Amas Ŝin on the disc label but Mi Volas Ŝin in the liner notes), and again for their album Ĉu Ne? in 1991.

Same Vocalist, Different Band

The Esperanto music scene has a number of singer/songwriters who have performed with more than one band, and naturally they have recorded some of their songs with both groups.

Kim Henriksen recorded his song Sola with both Amplifiki and Esperanto Desperado. Several of the songs on the latter group’s debut album, Brokantaĵoj, were originally written for Amplifiki, who performed them during their live shows but never recorded them. The album title refers to this, as it literally means “second-hand things”, while also including the word “kantaĵoj” (“songs”).

Amplifiki’s final album Ĉu Ne?, released in 1991, includes two songs by Ĵomart kaj Nataŝa: Nur Vi Estas Ŝanco Mia and Mi Sopiras. The same songs later appeared on Ĵomart kaj Nataŝa’s album Vi Kuras de Vi the following year (the former song under the different title Ni Perdas Unu Alian), and are clearly the same recordings from the same sessions - but the versions on the Amplifiki album have additional instruments provided by Amplifiki that are not present on Ĵomart kaj Nataŝa’s own version.

Martin Wiese re-recorded two songs for his first album with his backing band La Talpoj: the title track, Pli ol Nenio, from Persone’s Sen, and Vivo Duras Sed Vi Molas, which he had originally recorded as an entirely solo piece for the Vinilkosmo-Kompil’ vol. 1.

Dennis Rock Tamba’s song Regeo-Virino appears on his solo EP Afrika Nokto (2001) and his band La Rolls’s album Sunradio (2004).

Ale Kosabela recorded his song Jen three times: first with his rock group La Porkoj, then with his Latin-American group Strika Tango, and finally in a reggae version as a solo artist.

Song Parodies

A parody refers to a re-recording of a song using the same melody but different lyrics, usually (but not necessarily) for comic effect.

Perhaps the most famous song parody in Esperanto music is Duncan Thomson’s Mola (of Amplifiki’s Sola). Although it has never been recorded in the studio, it is a well-known fixture at many Esperanto events, and was even performed by Kim and Martin of Amplifiki at FESTO in 2013.

The only studio recordings of Esperanto song parodies that I know of are both by JoMo: Pola (of Amplifiki’s Sola) and Skataluno (of Esperanto Desperado’s Ska-Virino).

True Cover Versions

Finally we come to the songs that are unambiguously cover versions: songs that were originally written and recorded by one Esperanto artist, and then covered by another artist. I only know of three examples - and interestingly, all three involve songs re-interpreted in very different styles to the original.

The anti-war song Ĉu Vi Pentas? was originally written by the rock group Persone and released on their 1987 debut album 62 Minutoj. It was later covered by the a capella choral group Akordo for their 1996 album Muzikpluvo.

La Postrompiĝa Temp’ was originally written by Gijom’ Armide and recorded by him with solo piano accompaniment in 2015. Shortly afterwards it was covered by the hard rock group Supernova.

Finally, Sunradio was written by Dennis Rock Tamba and recorded by his band La Rolls (as the title track of their only album) and by Esperanto Desperado (on their album Hotel Desperado). Both albums were released in 2004, and as I can’t find a more exact date than that for either of them, it’s impossible to say which is the original and which is the cover - if indeed the artists even thought of them as an original and a cover at all! Unfortunately the version by La Rolls isn’t available online.

Please let me know of any cover versions of Esperanto songs that I’ve missed in the comments below, and I’ll add them to this post!

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