"I Don't Want to Be a Hero" is a 1987 song by the British band Johnny Hates Jazz. It reached #11 in the UK top 40 in August 1987 spending 10 weeks on the chart. It is taken from their #1 album Turn Back the Clock.

Writing and inspiration

The song was written by the band's lead singer and main songwriter, Clark Datchler. It has a strong anti-war sentiment and is written from the perspective of a soldier who is questioning their participation in what they consider an unjust war. The band's American record company were reluctant to release the single in the U.S. because of its anti-war stance. The song makes references to conscription and propaganda. In a 1987 interview with Record Mirror, Datchler said, "It's a very profound song but I'm not about to preach to anyone. All my songs are observations and the nice thing about 'I Don't Want to be a Hero' is that you've got a serious subject and putting it with quite a poppy musical backing. I don't think people get involved enough with lyrics in the pop field."

Music video

The international music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.

Critical reception

Jerry Smith of British magazine Music Week described "I Don't Want to Be a Hero" a "slick and polished pop song", but deemed it "lacks infectious edge" of "Shattered Dreams". In a review published in Smash Hits, Vici McDonald described the song as being "extremely polished and springhtly but it's so blandly anonymous that it could be by practically anybody", adding that Johnny Hates Jazz are just one of many interchangeable men bands "playing jazzy, breezalong white funk".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers

In 1988, Japanese singer Yōko Nagayama covered the song, "反逆のヒーロー".