Quoted in Other Media
The song features in the film "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" (1993).
Mystery Science Theater 3000 often riffs on movies by saying "Billy, don't be a hero!", including the episode "The Creeping Terror".
In the first episode of Friends, Ross is sad because it has been so long since he last picked up a woman, saying "Do the words 'Billy, Don't Be a Hero' mean anything to you?"
Massive Attack's 1991 track "Blue Lines" (from the album of the same name) features the lyrics "take a walk, Billy, don't be a hero".
In Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the song is briefly heard during a montage in a disco cover by Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) performing on rollerblades during "The Dewey Cox Show". A much longer cut of this scene can be seen in the director's cut, and the whole performance was included in the extras for the 2-Disc editions.
In the Powerpuff Girls the leader, Ace, of the Gang Green Gang says to another member, Billy, "Billy, don't be a hero!" when he decides to save the Powerpuff Girls from a subway train.
In The Justice Friends (Cartoon Network, 1996) Major Glory says "Billy don't be a hero!" to William, Valhallen's pet goat, when it jumps to save Krunk from the attack of Valhallen's living clothes.
In an episode of ALF, Alf uses the line "Willie don't be a hero, don't be a fool with your life" referring to the head of the household, Wille Tanner, after Willie comes up with a bad idea.
The Doug Anthony Allstars performed a comedic cover of this song, featuring the altered line, "Where did Billy's head go?" in place of "Keep your pretty head low".
Dav Pilkey named the hero of The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Billy solely to make possible a passing homage to Billy Don't Be a Hero.
Read more about this topic: Billy Don't Be A Hero
Famous quotes containing the words quoted in, quoted and/or media:
“The machine invades me all day.”
—Sharon Atkins, U.S. receptionist. As quoted in Working, book 2, by Studs Terkel (1973)
“It isn’t that I want to hold the children here, it’s just that I worry about what our life will be like. I don’t know what we’ll talk about, just the two of us, after all these years.”
—Anonymous Parents. As quoted in Women of a Certain Age, by Lillian B. Rubin, ch. 2 (1979)
“Today the discredit of words is very great. Most of the time the media transmit lies. In the face of an intolerable world, words appear to change very little. State power has become congenitally deaf, which is why—but the editorialists forget it—terrorists are reduced to bombs and hijacking.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)