(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 self defense.) Oh, no! (Oh, oh, oh) Yeah! I say: I shot the sheriff oh, Lord! (And they say it is a capital offense.) Yeah! (oh, oh, 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-defense.) Where was the deputy? (oh) I say, I shot the sheriff, But I swear it was in self defense. (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! (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 didn't shot the deputy. No! I, I (shot the sheriff) But I didn't shoot no deputy, yeah! So, yeah!