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)

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