Paper Lace in C, Bo Donaldson in Bb, I play in D capo 3
Lyrics and chords here follow the Bo Donaldson version
Vox on 5 1 1 1 of the chord on “the marching band”
| Em7 | A7 |
| The marchin’ band came | down along Main Street |
| D |
| The soldier blues fell in behind |
| Em7 | A7 |
| I looked across and | there I saw Billy |
| D |
| Waiting to go and join the line |
Vox up to the 5 on “and”
| Em7 | A7 |
| And with her head u | pon his shoulder |
| Em7 | A7 |
| His young and lovely | fiancee |
Back down to the regular melody
| Em7 | A7 |
| From where I stood I | saw she was cryin’ |
| Em7 | G | A7 |
| And through her tears I | heard her | say |
| D | Dmaj7 | Em7 |
| Billy, don’t be a | hero, don’t be a | fool with your life |
| A7 | D |
| Billy, don’t be a hero, come back and | make me your wife |
| D | D7 | G | Gm | |
| And a | s he started to | go, she said, | Billy keep your head | low |
| D | Em7 | A | D |
| Billy, don’t be | hero, | come back to | me |
| D |
| Em7 | A7 |
| The soldier blues were | trapped on a hillside |
| D |
| The battle raging all around |
| Em7 | A7 |
| The sergeant cried we’ve | got to hang on boys |
| D |
| We’ve got to hold this piece of ground |
| Em7 | A7 |
| I need a volun | teer to ride up |
| Em7 | A7 |
| And bring us back some | extra men |
| Em7 | A7 |
| And Billy’s hand was | up in a moment |
| Em7 | G | A7 |
| Forgettin’ all the | words she | said |
Original changes hey here, I don’t, it’s a silly key change
| D | Dmaj7 | Em7 |
| Billy, don’t be a | hero, don’t be a | fool with your life |
| A7 | D |
| Billy, don’t be a hero, come back and | make me your wife |
| D | D7 | G | Gm | |
| And a | s he started to | go, she said, | Billy keep your head | low |
| D | Em7 | A | D |
| Billy, don’t be | hero, | come back to | me |
| D |
Let ring
| Em7 | A7 |
| I heard his fianc | ee got a letter |
| Dmaj7 | Bm7 |
| That told how Billy d | ied that day |
| Em7 | A7 |
| The letter said that | he was a hero |
| Dmaj7 | Bm7 |
| She should be proud he | died that way |
| Em7 | Asus4 | A | D |
| I heard she threw that | letter | a | way |