REFRAIN
I shot the sheriff
But I didn’t shoot no deputy
I shot the sheriff
But I didn’t shoot no deputy
COUPLET
Yeah! All around in my home town
They’re tryin’ 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
REFRAIN
I shot the sheriff
But I swear it was in self-defence
I say, I shot the sheriff
And they say it is a capital offence
COUPLET
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!
REFRAIN
I shot the sheriff
But I swear it was in self-defence
I say, I shot the sheriff
But I swear it was in self-defence.
COUPLET
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
REFRAIN
I shot the sheriff
But I didn’t shoot no deputy
I shot the sheriff
But I didn’t shoot no deputy
COUPLET
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, no
I, I (shot the sheriff)
But I didn’t shoot no deputy yeah
So, yeah
