Billy, Don't Be a Hero
1974 · ABC 11435 · USA
- Artist
- Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods
- Title
- Billy, Don't Be a Hero
- Release
- Billy, Don't Be a Hero / Don't Ever Look Back
- Year
- 1974
- Label
- ABC # 11435
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- M. Murray, P.Callander
- Genre
- Pop · Pop
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
Group formed in 1965 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The song "Billy Don't Be a Hero" (ABC Records # ABC-11435), an anti-war pop song written by Paper Lace was about the American Civil War - as indicated by the reference to "soldier blue" (the Union Forces) and "ride up" (meaning a soldier on a horse). Moreover, the front cover of the Paper Lace single "Billy Don't Be a Hero" showed a picture of union forces sitting around a campfire. As it was released in 1974, many interpreted it as a Vietnam War song. The Vietnam-era saw a revival of songs about past wars reinterpreted, such as the Civil War, World War Two, and Korea. This version by Bo Donaldson reached # 1 in the Billboard charts on 15 June 1974.1Sources1Billboard, 15 June 1974↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: The marchin' band came down along Main Street / The soldier-blues fell in behind, I looked across and there I saw Billy waiting to go and join the line / And with her head upon his shoulder his young and lovely fiancee from where I stood / I saw she was cryin' and through her tears I heard her say / Billy, don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life / Come back and make me your wife / The soldier-blues were trapped on the hillside / The battle raging all around, the sergeant cried / "We've got to hang on, boys, we got to hold this piece a'ground / I need a volunteer to ride up and bring us back some extra men" / And Billy's hand was up in a moment, forgettin' all the words she said / I heard his fiancee got a letter that told how Billy died that day / The letter said that he was a hero / She should be proud he died that way, I heard she threw that letter away
Notes
ABC Records ABC-11435 (45-16560-S), stereo; "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" (M. Murray/P. Callander), 3:25, publisher Murray-Callander Music, Inc. (ASCAP); arranged by Ben Benay; produced by Steve Barri; ℗ 1974, ABC Records, Inc. [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
American pop group formed in Cincinnati, Ohio ('Billy, Don't Be a Hero', 1974). [Source: Wikipedia]