Billy Don't Be a Hero Billy Don't Be a Hero "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
Anyone Who Had a Heart (song) No.5 in Italy with "Quelli che hanno un cuore" that September; in October 1964 Clark reached No.1 in Spain - for a two-week period - with "Tú no tienes corazón". The success of Petula Clark's translated version of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" did not preclude the Dionne Warwick original reaching No.7 in Spain; Warwick's version also charted in France at No.57 and in Italy at No.30. In Germany, Clark's specialized cover, "Alles ist nun vorbei", was assigned a tandem chart ranking with both the Dionne Warwick and the Cilla Black versions of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" by with