I first heard this song from Eric Clapton’s cover. I don’t know if anyone besides perhaps Paul Simon had contemporary songs that were essentially Reggae. So quite cool Clapton covered the song.
Slight maybe important lyrical difference (bolded)
Bob Marley
I shot the sheriff, but it did not shoot no deputy
Clapton
I shot the sheriff, but I didn’t shoot the deputy
Whether the article “no” or “the” matters it does somewhat change the nature of the alleged crime.
I mean, in Marley’s version this “deputy” may have been anybody, whether or not he was “really” a deputy or, in Clapton’s version a real deputy.
Assuming our singer is a “reliable narrator” and we can believe the rest of his tale about how Sherri John Browne, who almost surely would have been a white guy (yet that may or may not matter) and that Clapton’s character was not a white Notable Guitar Player from England (and highly likely he’s the same first-person as the Bob Marley character), this is still a very difficult defense. Especially for a black man in UK occupied Jamaica.
I mean, Bob Marley was in general clearly singing about racial injustice.
Any lawyer/solicitor would have to mount an incredible almost insurmountable case with lots of considerable empathy and compassion for our singer from the judge/jury.
I disagree. “I didn’t shoot no deputy” means the same thing as “I didn’t shoot any deputy”, and implies that he denies shooting both the deputy in question and any other deputy that he may or may not be accused of shooting. It does not question anyone’s deputy status.
Clapton and Simon were white artists either covering a Reggae song or making one that sounded like it. But the first purely Reggae song to become a Top 10 hit (that I know of) was “Israelites” by Jamaican singer Desmond Dekker (and the Aces) in 1969. I can’t hear a white singer covering that one!
UB-40, the Police? The former is still a reggae band (They just released an album cleverly called “40” with their greatest hits and new stuff) , and I am aware of The Police having only seen them live twice. I was talking mainly about Bob Marley. And I suppose Eric Clapton (seen twice also).
I mentioned Paul Simon (seen four times) as I know, circa 1974 he was one of the few white artists who had any songs close to Reggae.
This thread can express love for Bob Marley or Reggae, yet I was not asking “Who is good at Reggae”.
And gees, Saint Cad, this song is considered by anybody to be reggae. I think John Lennon and George Harrison both hated the song and Paul McCartney might be slightly surprised this song is considered reggae (though skiffle was closer).
I mean, the reggae rhythm is almost irrelevant (To I shot the Sheriff) . My query about this was lyrical: What might happen to our singer who was clearly singing about racial injustice,
Someday, perhaps, I’ll start a thread if “Giants steps i take, walking on the Moon. I hope I don’t break my legs, walking on, walking on the Moon” by some little band.
I’m trying and failing in my head to convert rhe White Album version into Reggae. I have no doubt Paul could have a version, yet to me Clapton’s “I shot the Sheriff” was, besides any stuff from Paul Simon, my the first Reggae / Bob Marley song I heard. I recall, as a 7 year old, not being partial to the guy “Who shot the Sherri”
Yet before Robert Nesta Marley died way too young in 1980 I was aware of his music as much as “The Police”
And I knew (his persona in the song) was someone I’d have compassion for,
According to the extensive documentary that I used to watch, the singer has nothing to worry about. The deputy is an incompetent boob who carries one bullet in his shirt pocket. He’ll never track down the guy who killed the sheriff.
The same group that gave us “Our House in the Middle of Our Street” covered “Israelites?” Glad I missed that!
Oh, I’m sure others have tried, but I couldn’t bear such a travesty! No non-Jamaican could cover that song and have the same authenticity as Desmond Dekker.
I assume something extensive about Bob and not just this song. He even sings “If I am guilty I will pay”, The persona in the song is prepared to die. I mean, besides the deputy whom if you believe is a real deputy him he did not shoot the deputy yet readily admits “He shot the Sheriff” and I reckon he’s kind made peace with his maker over a Capitol offense.
To answer my OP question: He is going to die. And Bob, the singer/writer wants to make it known this an injustice.
I am no reggae expert, but no, it doesn’t sound or feel like reggae to me. It’s folk rock, with a funky Brazilian drum – the “culca” (often used in samba music) – giving it that odd noise.
