The A-side is an anthemic rock song whose lyric vaguely describes the rise of civil unrest under some charismatic leader in the face of increasing unemployment; the original title was "UB 2,000,001".

According to Marillion's singer and lyricist Fish, the "market square hero" is a "would-be revolutionary with all the necessary charisma and presence of a leader without direction or goals, just a sense of frustration and anger".

In a 2009 interview, Mark Kelly stated: "I don't know whether Brick was a leftie, a militant or a skinhead but he was the inspiration for the character singing, 'I'm a Market Square Hero'".

[3] Fish made reference to this theme and introduced Brick as a "leftie hero" before he performed the song with his former Marillion bandmates in Aylesbury at the 'Hobble on the Cobbles' concert in 2007.

As Fish himself admitted later:[2] We were concerned about the similarity to the lengthy composition by Genesis called 'Supper's Ready' which also meandered and burst into sections, the end one in particular, which would add conviction to the many critics' opinions that Marillion were more than influenced by Genesis.Inspired by the John Gardner novel Grendel (1971), the lyric looks at the Beowulf myth from the perspective of the monster.

Hitchcock was also contracted to produce Marillion's upcoming debut album, but was heavily injured in a car accident when he drove home in a state of physical exhaustion after finishing work on the single.

Re-recorded versions of "Market Square Heroes" and "Three Boats Down from the Candy" with the band's short-termed drummer John Marter would form the B-side to the 1984 single "Punch and Judy".