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 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: 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!