But I didn't shoot no deputy, oh no! Oh!
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
(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.)
Sheriff John Brown always hated me,
He said kill it before it grow -
He said kill them before they grow.
(I shot the sheriff.) Oh, Lord!
(But I swear it was in self-defence.)
Where was the deputy? (Oo-oo-oh)
But I swear it was in selfdefence. (Oo-oh) Yeah!
And I started out of town, yeah!
All of a sudden I saw sheriff John Brown
So I shot - I shot - I shot him down and I say:
But I say (But I didn't shoot no deputy),
I didn't shoot no deputy (oh, no-oh), oh no!
But I didn't shoot no deputy. Oh! (Oo-oo-ooh)
Reflexes had got the better of me
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 - I - I - I shot the sheriff.