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, 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!
(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.. 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!

(..)