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 defence)
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 self defence (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 shoot the deputy, yeah!
I, I (shot the sheriff)
But I didn't shoot no deputy, yeah!
No, yeah!