“Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” came from Mitch Murray and Peter Callender, two long-tenured British songwriters. Discover releases, reviews, track listings, recommendations, and more about Bo Donaldson And The Heywoods* - Billy, Don't Be A Hero / Don't Ever Look Back at Discogs. Listen free to Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods – Billy, Don't Be A Hero (Billy, Don't Be A Hero, Don't Ever Look Back). She eventually found a job at Dick Clark’s Cincinnati office, and she helped the band get booked as the opener on Dick Clark’s Carnival Of Stars tour in 1968, which led to further opportunities. Billy don't be a hero, come back to me. And one of the ways that they negotiated that new paradox was by sending a cheerily tragic, deeply dumb death-song up to #1 for a couple of weeks. And as Billy started to go, she said keep your pretty head low. in June 1974. Billy Don't be a Hero Lyrics: The marchin' band came down along Main Street / The soldier-blues fell in behind (Ba-da da-da-da) / I looked across and there I saw Billy (I'm Billy!) I heard his fiancee got a letter. For a young-doomed-love tragedy, “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” is positively jaunty. Billy, don't be a hero, come back and make me your wife". In de Verenigde Staten werd het uitgebracht door Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. She would’ve saved everyone a lot of trouble if she’d just cut Billy’s throat while he was waiting in the enlistment line. But singer Philip Wright seems to have just a smidge of pain in his voice. Am7Billy don't be a hero, Come back and Gmake me your wife. Dm7 G7 C Billy, don't be a hero, come back and make me your wife ! Bo Donaldson played trumpet and keyboards, but his mother Bea basically put the band together and released their early singles on her own label. You can probably guess the contours of the narrative just from the title. In the Paper Lace original, the drums are a military march, while the sprightly whistling riff seems designed to evoke memories of Bridge On The River Kwai. Pop antiwar protest song the narrative of a soldier named Billy What is the summary Billy don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life. That lack of specificity isn’t an accident. Het is een anti-oorlogslied dat op singles verscheen in 1974. He’s immediately gunned down. Or it would introduce those things if either Paper Lace or Bo Donaldson And The Heywoods had any idea how to sell it. If anything, the Heywoods’ version of the song is even more stupefyingly chipper than the original: slightly faster, slightly tinnier, slightly less engaged with the realities of human interaction. The American band in question was Bo Donaldson And The Heywoods, who’d formed in Cincinnati in the mid-’60s. After it, and during it, they had to rethink the entire idea of what war even was. The second she tells Billy that, Billy is as doomed as the days-from-retirement partner in the ’80s cop movie. The song Billy - Don't Be a Hero was written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander and was first released by Paper Lace in 1974. It introduces a hint of ambiguity, a creeping sense that maybe this whole war thing was never worth it, that military heroism only means death. BONUS BEATS: Here’s John C. Reilly, as Dewey Cox, singing a disco version of “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” in the extended version of a scene from the 2007 movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story: THE NUMBER TWOS: The Stylistics’ achingly romantic Philly soul ballad “You Make Me Feel Brand New” peaked at #2 behind “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero.” It’s an 8. The song is about a man named Billy who joins the Army despite his fiancee’s worries & ends up being killed in action. Some Facts About Billy Don’t Be a Hero Lyrics and Music “Billy Don’t Be A Hero” is a 1974 anti-war pop song that was first a hit in the UK for Paper Lace and then some months later it was a hit in the USA for Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.The song was written by … There weren’t many heroes in the Vietnam War. I heard his fiancee got a letter. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1974 Vinyl release of "Billy, Don't Be A Hero" on Discogs. Billy don't be a hero, come back and make me your wife. As an independent website, we rely on our measly advertising income to keep the lights on. Gibbons delivers the “threw the letter away” line with all the dramatic force of a toddler recounting an episode of Paw Patrol. You can probably guess the contours of the narrative just from the title. It’s an incoherent delusion, and it’s also a ferociously obnoxious piece of songcraft. Just before Paper Lace could release the American version of their single, an American band came in and released their own version, effectively blocking Paper Lace’s version of the song from getting any kind of foothold in the US. (Paper Lace’s version eventually peaked at #96.) History The band was formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1965 named simply "The Heywoods", not after anyone in the band or connected with it, but from the last name of a songwriter on a Rolling Stones album because they liked the sound of the name. Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods are an American Pop music group known mainly for their 1970s hits, "Billy Don't Be A Hero" and "Who Do You Think You Are". And when the military writes to the girlfriend, letting her know that Billy died a hero, she throws the letter away. 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. “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” is supposed to be an eternal story of military sacrifice, the kind of thing that can apply all across history. Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Refimprove Template:Infobox song Template:Infobox song "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. In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. The most important stories and least important memes, every Friday. The war depicted in “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” isn’t the Vietnam War. Before Vietnam, Americans could say that their country had never lost a war. Verse 2: Dm G7 The soldier blues were trapped on a hillside, C Cmaj7 the battle raging all around, Dm G7 the sergeant cried, “We've got to hang on boys! That’s not the case with Heywoods singer Mike Gibbons, who meaninglessly chirps his way all through the song. Deze versie stond twee weken nummer 1 in de Billboard Hot 100, maar in Nederland en het Verenigd Koninkrijk liet men het links liggen. Would you please disable adblock? In België sloeg het liedje matig aan, net als de versie van Paper Lace. It wasn’t a war of hills that needed to be held until reinforcements arrived. Creative Commons Naamsvermelding/Gelijk delen, https://nl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Billy,_don%27t_be_a_hero&oldid=36476969, Wikipedia:Geen afbeelding lokaal en geen op Wikidata, Dit artikel of een eerdere versie ervan is een (gedeeltelijke) vertaling van het artikel, dutchcharts, Top40, VRT Top30, Chartstats. 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