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, ooh Yeah      All around in my hometown   They're tryin' 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   But I say, oh, now, now...      Oh, I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self defense   Ooh, ooh, ooh   I said, I shot the sheriff, Oh Lord   And they say it is a capital offense   Ooh, ooh, ooh   Hear this      Sheriff John Brown always hated me   For what I don't know   Ev'ry time I plant a seed   He said, "Kill it before it grows."   He said, "Kill them before they grow."      And so, oh, now, now,   Read it in the news      I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self defense   Ooh, ooh, ooh   Where was the deputy?   I said I shot the sheriff but I swear it was in self defense      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   Ooh, no, oh   I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot no deputy   Ooo, ooo, ooh      Reflexes had the better of me   And what is to be must be   Ev'ry 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, no   (Repeat)