I Shot the Sheriff Lyrics

[Chorus]
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, ooh

[Verse 1]
Yeah, all around in my home town
They're trying to track me down, yeah
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

[Chorus]
I shot the sheriff, the sheriff
But I swear it was in self-defense, oh no
Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah
I say, I shot the sherriff, oh Lord
And they say it is a capital offense, yeah
Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah

[Verse 2]
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, and so
Read it in the news
[Chorus]
I shot the sheriff, oh Lord
But I swear it was in self-defense
Where was the deputy? Ooh, ooh, ooh
I say, I shot the sheriff
But I swear it was in self-defense, yeah
Ooh-ooh

[Verse 3]
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 (pay, pay, pay, pay, pay)

[Chorus]
I shot the sheriff
But I say, but I didn't shoot no deputy

I didn't shoot no deputy, oh no, ooh, ooh, ooh
I shot the sheriff, I did
But I didn't shoot no deputy, oh
Ooh, ooh, ooh

[Verse 4]
Reflexes had 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

[Outro]
I say
I-I-I, I shot the sheriff
Lord, I didn't shot the deputy, no
Yeah, I-I shot the sheriff
But I didn't shoot no deputy, yeah, so, yeah

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About

Genius Annotation

Bob Marley here tells a story from the point of view of a narrator who admits to having killed the local sheriff, and claims to be falsely accused of having killed the deputy .

This song was first released in 1973 on The Wailers' album Burnin'. Marley explained his intention as follows:

I want to say ‘I shot the police’ but the government would have made a fuss so I said ‘I shot the sheriff’ instead… but it’s the same idea: justice."

In an alternate interpretation, a 1975 1 minute 52 second interview was recorded onto his posthumous album, Talkin' Blues (track 20). There he tells the story of growing up in Trenchtown, Jamaica where men would try to fight him, and he used that to write a song. He did not fight the man, he sought out the reason why the man was angry, he shot the real problem of why the man was angry (the sheriff) , and not the man (the deputy).

Eric Clapton recorded a very famous cover version in 1974, just one year after the original.

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