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!