"Billy Don't Be a Hero" is a 1974 pop song that was first a UK hit for Paper Lace and then, some months later, a US hit for Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. The song was written and composed by two British songwriters, Mitch Murray and Peter Callander. Because the song was released in 1974, it was associated by some listeners with the Vietnam War, though the war to which it actually refers is never identified in the lyrics. It has been suggested that the drum pattern, references to a marching band leading soldiers in blue, and "riding out" refer to the American Civil War. However the drum beat and cavalry "riding out" is not specific to the American Civil War, and blue uniforms were common in the 19th century. For one of the band's performances on Top of the Pops they wore Union-style uniforms, as can be seen on YouTube and on 45 single record cover. A young woman is distraught that her fiancé chooses to enlist with Army recruiters passing through the town, causing her to implore him: 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 heartbroken woman throws away the official letter notifying her of Billy's "heroic" death.
Chart performances
Paper Lace's version of "Billy Don't Be a Hero" reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 16 March 1974, and did likewise in Australia, where it spent eight weeks at the top spot. Thereafter, Bo Donaldson's and the Heywoods's version reached No. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 on 15 June 1974, but was dubbed into French for Canada. The US version sold over three and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in June 1974. Donaldson and the Heywoods's version was a massive hit in Latin America and Japan as well, but it remained largely unknown elsewhere as of late July 2017. Billboard ranked it as the No. 21 song for 1974. Despite the song's popularity, it was poorly received, and it was voted No. 8 on Rolling Stone magazine's readers' poll of "10 Worst Songs of the 1970s."
The song is mentioned as having played on K-Billy's Super Sounds of the '70s Weekend in the film Reservoir Dogs. The song features in the 1993 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The Mystery Science Theater 3000 characters often use the line "Billy, don't be a hero!" when riffing on movies, one example being the episode The Creeping Terror. In the first episode of Friends, Ross is sad because it has been so long since he last picked up a woman, saying, "Do the words 'Billy, Don't Be a Hero' mean anything to you?" Massive Attack's 1991 track "Blue Lines" features the lyrics "take a walk, Billy, don't be a hero." In , the song is briefly heard during a montage in a disco cover by Dewey Cox 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. In The Powerpuff Girls, the leader of the Gang Green Gang, Ace, says to another member, Billy, "Billy, don't be a hero!" when he decides to save the Powerpuff Girls from a subway train. In The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, the episode "K'nuckles, Don't Be a Hero" is named after the song. In The Justice Friends, Major Glory says "Billy, don't be a hero!" to William, Valhallen's pet goat, when it jumps to save Krunk from the attack of Valhallen's living clothes. In an episode of ALF, the title character, Gordon "Alf" Shumway, uses the line "Willie, don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life," referring to the head of the household, Wille Tanner, after Willie comes up with a bad idea. The Doug Anthony Allstars performed a comedic cover of this song, featuring the altered line, "Where did Billy's head go?" in place of "Billy, keep your head low." Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants, named the hero of The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Billy solely to make possible a passing homage to "Billy Don't Be a Hero." Since then, the "Billy Don't Be a Hero" homage has been applied to other characters whose names rhyme with "Billy" in several Captain Underpants spin-off comics. In the season 4 episode of Dinosaurs, the episode title was referenced, "Earl, Don't Be A Hero."
