I shot the sheriff, cause I didn't shoot no deputy, oh no, oh I shot the sheriff, cause I didn't shoot no deputy, ooh ooh ooh Yeah, all around in my hometown, they 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 Well I say, oh now now, oh I shot the sheriff, cause I swear it wasn't self defense, ooh ooh ooh I shot the sheriff, and they say he's a capital offence, ooh ooh ooh Sheriff John Brown always hated me, for what, I don't know Every time I plant a seed, he say kill it before it grow He say kill them before they grow And so, and so, read it in the news I shot the sheriff, cause I swear it wasn't self defense, ooh ooh ooh I say I shot the sheriff, cause I swear it wasn't self defense, yeah Freedom came my way one day, and I started out of town, yeah All of a sudden, I saw Sheriff John Brown, came in 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 didn't shoot the deputy, oh oh oh I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy, oh oh oh Reflexes are 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, but I didn't shoot the deputy I, I, I, I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy I, I, I, I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy *