[Intro]
(I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot no deputy, no, no, no)
(I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot no deputy)

[Verse 1]
All around in my home town
They trying to track me down
They say they want to bring me in guilty
For the life of a deputy
For the life of a deputy
But I say

[Chorus]
I shot the sheriff
(I shot the sheriff)
But I swear it was
(But I swear it was in self-defense)
I swear it was in self-defense, yeah
It was I who shot the sheriff
(I shot the sheriff, and they say it is a capital offense)
And they say it is a capital offense

[Verse 2]
Sheriff John Brown always hated me
For what I don't know
Every time I plant a seed
He said, "Kill them before the grow"
He said, "Kill them before they grow, now"
And so….and so
[Chorus]
I shot the sheriff
(I shot the sheriff)
But I didn't shoot no deputy
(But I didn't shoot no deputy, oh, no, no)
It was I who shot the sheriff
(I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot no deputy)
But I, but I didn't shoot no deputy, no, no, no, no, no

[Verse 3]
Freedom came my way one day
And I started out of town, yeah
And all of a sudden I saw sheriff John Brown
He was aiming to shoot I down
So I shot, yes I shot, shot him down, and I say

[Chorus]
Bye, bye, bye I shot the sheriff
(I shot the sheriff)
But I didn't shoot the deputy
(Oh, no, no)
It was I who shot the sheriff
(I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot no deputy)
But I, but I didn't shoot no deputy

[Verse 4]
Reflexes got the better of me
And what is to be must be
Every day the bucket goes to the well
I say, one day the bottom oughta drop out
One day the bottom will drop out
And so….and so
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