 Into the 1970s, as the Vietnam War continued, hit ballads of youth and death included B. J. Thomas' "Billy and Sue" (1972) and Terry Jacks' No.1 hit "Seasons in the Sun" (1974), their protagonists of indeterminate age, or slightly older than teens.A song that was thought to have referenced the Civil War was Paper Lace's 1974 hit "Billy Don't Be a Hero," made a bigger hit in the U.S. by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.