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.

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.

[5] 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".

[6] 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".