"Bayatılar" is a song by Azerbaijani musician Eldar Mansurov with lyrics by Vahid Aziz. It was released in 1989 by Brilliant Dadashova in Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Europe, the Arab world and Brazil. In 1991, the song was released on the compilation album Bayatı on Melodiya, the Soviet state label, alongside songs by Aygun Kazimova and Firangiz Rehimbeyli. The music to the song was used as a soundtrack in Promises (2001) documentary film.

Other versions and sampling

"Bayatılar" has been covered, interpolated and sampled in songs by many other artists, such as in the following:

Copyright issues

Stereo Love

In the autumn of 2009, during his stay in Greece, Azerbaijani composer Eldar Mansurov heard the song "Stereo Love" and contacted the Romanian Police, claiming the melody in the chorus was taken from his popular 1989 composition "Bayatılar". In the music video, the composer of "Stereo Love" was only listed as anonymous. The office confirmed with Edward Maya that he had in fact copied Mansurov's work. He admitted to have been fascinated by an accordion version of "Bayatılar" which he had come across online in early 2009 and claimed to have tried to contact the author but had been unable to due to his busy schedule. On 19 January 2010, Edward Maya signed an agreement with Eldar Mansurov in Baku, Azerbaijan, confirming their co-authorship of "Stereo Love".

Esena Mono

Greek singer Katy Garbi used the modified version of melody of Bayatılar in the song "Esena Mono" from the album Emmones Idees (2008). Mansurov sued Dimitris Kontopulos (composer) and Sony Music Entertainment Hellas AE (publisher) for stealing his original work in 2011. The Greek court said that the similarity between 2 songs are more than 50 percent. The entire process finished in 2023 in favor of Mansurov.