I shot the sheriff
But I didnt shoot no deputy, oh no! oh!
I shot the sheriff
But I didnt shoot no deputy, ooh, ooh, oo-ooh.
Yeah! all around in my home town,
Theyre tryin to track me down;
They say they want to bring me in guilty
For the killing of a deputy,
For the life of a deputy.
But I say:
Oh, now, now. oh!
I shot the sheriff !
But I swear it was in selfdefence.
Oh, no! Ooh, ooh yeah!
I say: I shot the sheriff – oh, lord! –
And they say it is a capital offence.
Yeah! Ooh, ooh, ooh yeah!
Sheriff John brown always hated me,
For what, I dont know:
Every time I plant a seed,
He said kill it before it grow –
He said kill them before they grow.
And so:
Read it in the news:
I shot the sheriff oh, Lord!
But I swear it was in self-defence.
Where was the deputy?
I say: I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in selfdefence. Ooh yeah!
Freedom came my way one day
And I started out of town, yeah!
All of a sudden I saw sheriff John Brown
Aiming to shoot me down,
So I shot – I shot – I shot him down and I say:
If I am guilty I will pay.
I shot the sheriff,
But I say but I didn’t shoot no deputy,
I didnt shoot no deputy Ooh, oh no!
I shot the sheriff! i did!
But I didnt shoot no deputy. Oh!
Reflexes had got the better of me
And what is to be must be:
Every day the bucket a-go a well,
One day the bottom a-go drop out,
One day the bottom a-go drop out.
I say:
I – I – I – I shot the sheriff.
Lord, I didnt shot the deputy. Yeah!