Billy Don't Be a Hero
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| “Billy - Don't Be a Hero” | |||||
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| Single by Paper Lace from the album Paper Lace |
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| B-side | "Celia" | ||||
| Released | 1974 | ||||
| Format | 7" single | ||||
| Genre | Pop protest song | ||||
| Length | 3:33 | ||||
| Label | Mercury | ||||
| Writer(s) | Mitch Murray, Peter Callander | ||||
| Paper Lace singles chronology | |||||
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"Billy Don't Be a Hero" is a 1974 anti-war pop song by Paper Lace and was also recorded by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. It was written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander.
Because the song was released in 1974, it is often associated with the Vietnam War. A young woman is distraught that her fiancé chooses to leave the area with an Army contingent passing through the town and go with them to fight. She laments,
- "Billy, don't be a hero! Don't be a fool with your life!
- "Billy, don't be a hero! Come back and make me your wife!
- "And as he started to go, she said, 'Billy, keep your head low!'
- "Billy, don't be a hero! Come back to me!"
The song goes on to describe how Billy is killed in action in a pitched battle after volunteering to ride out and seek reinforcements. In the end, the woman throws away the regret letter notifying her of Billy's "heroic" death.
[edit] Chart performances
Paper Lace's version of "Billy Don't Be a Hero" hit number one on the UK singles chart and was released in the United States at the same time as Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods' interpretation. Although Paper Lace had the chart-topper in the UK, its version stalled at #96 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Bo Donaldson version went to #1, though it failed to chart at all in the UK. Paper Lace had a U.S. #1 later in the year with "The Night Chicago Died".
[edit] Quoted in other media
In the first episode of Friends, Ross is asked about the last time he picked up a girl, and he says "Do the words 'Billy, Don't Be a Hero' mean anything to you?". Massive Attack's track Blue Lines (from the album of the same name) features the lyrics "take a walk, Billy, don't be a hero". In Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the song is briefly heard during a montage in a disco cover by Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) performing on rollerblades during "The Dewey Cox Show". A much longer cut of this scene can be seen in the director's cut, and the whole performance was included in the extras for the 2-Disc editions.
| Preceded by "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney and Wings |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods version) June 29, 1974 |
Succeeded by "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot |
| Preceded by "Jealous Mind" by Alvin Stardust |
UK Singles Chart number one single (Paper Lace version) March 12, 1974 |
Succeeded by "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks |
