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
I Wouldn't Be a Man Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs) charts published by "Billboard", and number seven on the Canadian country music charts published by "RPM". Billy Dean recorded the song for his 1996 album "It's What I Do", also released through Capitol Records. His version of the song was the third single from it, spending fourteen weeks on the country charts and peaking at number 45 by year's end. In October 1996, Dean told "Billboard" magazine that he chose to cut the song because he thought that it was different from the material that he had cut before; he called it a "one-on-one,