Paper Lace – ‘Billy, Don’t Be A Hero’

4 April 1974

This is the first of two number ones in a row that are death ballads. It’s also the first of two huge 1974 hits for Paper Lace, and the second of those, the knuckle-gnawingly awful ‘The Night Chicago Died’, deals with death too. I can also confirm that listening to ‘Billy, Don’t Be A Hero’ was almost the end of me.

Here in Q2 of 1974, bubblegum pop has congealed into cabaret light-entertainment schmaltz. In TV appearances Paper Lace performed the song while dressed up in US Civil War gear. The martial drumming and fluting intro of ‘Billy, Don’t Be A Hero’ briefly gives way to a mildly robust verse of quotidian lyrics that wouldn’t be too out of place in an anti-war rock song, but the chorus restores the folk-ditty sentimentality and naff shlock. The key change comes disturbingly early: the second chorus! If there’s any consolation for Billy, he left this world before having to hear this song.