i shot the sheriff

i shot the sheriff
but i didn’t shoot no deputy, oh no! oh!
i shot the sheriff
but i didn’t shoot no deputy, ooh, ooh, oo-ooh.)
yeah! all around in my home town,
they’re 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.) - the sheriff.
(but i swear it was in selfdefence.)
oh, no! (ooh, ooh, oo-oh) yeah!
i say: i shot the sheriff - oh, lord! -
(and they say it is a capital offence.)
yeah! (ooh, ooh, oo-oh) yeah!

sheriff john brown always hated me,
for what, i don’t 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? (oo-oo-oh)
i say: i shot the sheriff,
but i swear it was in selfdefence. (oo-oh) 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 didn’t shoot no deputy (oh, no-oh), oh no!
(i shot the sheriff.) i did!
but i didn’t shoot no deputy. oh! (oo-oo-ooh)

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 didn’t shot the deputy. yeah!
i - i (shot the sheriff) -
but i didn’t shoot no deputy, yeah! no, yeah!