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)