Billy Don't Be a Hero blue, and "riding out" (cavalry) 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. That being said, Paper Lace themselves performed the song on "Top of the Pops" wearing Union-style uniforms, as can be seen on YouTube. 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
Anyone Who Had a Heart (song) sung the standard lyric in live performance. Also, arranger Johnny Pearson utilized a bassoon solo for the instrumental break in Black's version as opposed to the saxophone utilized in the Warwick original. Cilla Black, interviewed for that "Great Performances" telecast, expressed her awareness of Warwick's disenchantment: "It was a No.1; Dionne was dead choked and she's never forgiven me to this day." It was in fact Burt Bacharach himself who backed Cilla to record this song for a British release, after Dionne Warwick had a hit in America with it. "At one point it looked as if Shirley Bassey would