Standard (EADGBE)
Chorus 1
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.
Verse 1
All a-round 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 depu-ty,
For the life of a dep-uty. But I say...
Chorus 2
I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in self-defence. (Oh, no! Yeah!)
I say; I shot the sheriff, oh Lord!
And they say it is a capital offence. Yeah!
Verse 2
Sheriff John Brown always hated me,
For what... I don't know.
Every time I plant a seed,
He said kill it be-fore it grow,
He said kill them be-fore they grow. And so, and so...
(Read it in the news!)
Chorus 3
I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in self-defence. I say;
I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in self-defence. (Yeah!)
Verse 3
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)...
Chorus 4
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.
Verse 4
Re-flexes had 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)...
Chorus 5
I-I-I, I shot the sheriff,
Lord, I didn't shot the depu-ty. No!
I-I...(shot the sheriff),
But I didn't shoot no deputy. Yeah! So, yeah!
Coda
(Repeat to Fade)
CHORD DIAGRAMS: