# I shot the sherriff **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2000, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067 "2000-10-31T08:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jLittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jLittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jLittle)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/1 "2000-10-31T08:16:05Z")
Hi, In Bob Marley’s song, wassit mean “I shot the sherriff”. And not the deputy? I’m stumped. Thanks, j ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/2 "2000-10-31T11:16:51Z")
I think he’s speaking literally. In other words, it means Sheriff John Brown hated him and tried to kill him so he shot him in self defense, but they were trying to blame him for the deputies death. Of course, someone will probably come along and tell me how wrong i am… (btw - i just woke up like 2 minutes ago from a dream that i met bob marley. weird, huh?) ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/3 "2000-10-31T13:31:05Z")
The story is pretty straight forward. The singer has been wrongly arrested for the murder of the deputy. He tells his captors that, instead, he killed Sheriff John Brown because the sheriff had spent years harrassing him. What the story is about is that the singer is saying black men (Jamaicans, anyway) don’t kill indiscriminately, only when they’ve been pushed too far. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Thing\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_1)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/4 "2000-10-31T16:39:06Z")
Like Cisco and Guy Propski, I agree it is pretty straightforward that the singer is claiming he didn’t shoot the deputy even though he admits shooting the sheriff. This, however, brings up the obvious question of who did shoot the deputy? I always figured it was the sheriff who shot the deputy since he is the villian of the song, but this is just speculation. John ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/5 "2000-10-31T17:56:05Z")
Did Marley himself write the song? Was he imagining it taking place in the old West or in his native Jamaica? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/6 "2000-10-31T18:02:45Z")
I always figured the sheriff shot the deputy, and was trying to frame the singer for the murder. “Freedom came my way one day…” I took this to mean the jail cell was left open, the sheriff, having killed the deputy himself, was going to say that the deputy was killed by the singer during an escape. The sheriff would then shoot the fleeing singer, silencing him forever. Only, the sheriff’s plan goes awry, and the singer shoots him instead. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/7 "2000-10-31T18:11:23Z")
The story that I get is that the deputy has been killed. We don’t know by whom, and it doesn’t matter all that much. The sheriff, who has always hated the singer, comes with gun drawn to arrest him, or possibly apply a little frontier justice. The singer suspecting the second case, shoots the sherrif first. I think that Bob Marley did write the song. It was certainly his version that Eric Clapton heard and emulated, paving the way for Marley to enter the American mainstream. I don’t know where it is supposed to be set, but it follows in the vein of “bandit” ballads made popular by Woody Guthrie and others. Those were always about the American Old West. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/8 "2000-10-31T19:33:16Z")
Yes, the song was written by Bob Marley. Here are the lyrics: I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. All around in my home town they’re trying to track me down. They say they want to bring me in guilty for the killing of a deputy, for the killing of a deputy. But I say: (chorus) I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in selfdefence. I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in selfdefence. Sheriff John Brown always hated me for what I don’t know. Every time that I plant a seed he said “Kill it before it grow,” he said “Kill it before it grow.” But I say: (chorus) I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in selfdefence. I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in selfdefence. Freedom came my way one day and I started out of town. All of a sudden I see sheriff John Brown, aiming to shoot me down. So I shot, I shot him down. But I say: (chorus) I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. Reflexes got the better of me and what is to be must be. Every day the bucket goes to the well, but one day the bottom will drop out, yes one day the bottom will drop out. But I say: (chorus) So I was wrong about one thing in my original summary; the singer is not in custody, but is on the lam. It’s not clear in the story, but it seems to me that the singer was either a slave, or a field hand on a plantation. One day he finally was able to leave town, and this is when Sheriff John Brown decided to shoot him. Too bad he wasn’t quicker on the draw… The killing of the deputy is an unrelated incident, but the authorities are blaming the singer anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/9 "2000-10-31T22:09:40Z")
**Guy** are those lyrics correct? I’m positive there’s a line in the song about his crime being a capital offense. Sua ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/10 "2000-10-31T22:23:25Z")
The Clapton version has the line in the beginning: I shot the Sherrif, but I swear it was in self-defense I shot the sheriff, and they say it is a capital offense The Marley version also has in it: Freedom came my way one day and I started out of town. All of a sudden I see sheriff John Brown, aiming to shoot me down. So I shot, I shot him down. But I say: If I am guilty I will pay! I shot the sheriff… ---
**Author:** ![absoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@absoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/absoul)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/11 "2000-10-31T22:52:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guy Propski \* > \*\* > It’s not clear in the story, but it seems to me that the singer was either a slave, or a field hand on a plantation. > > \*\* IMPO and from stories I have heard, the sherrif is telling the singer not to plant any more Marijuana. He says- “Every time that I plant a seed he said “Kill it before it grow,” he said “Kill it before it grow.”” ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/12 "2000-10-31T23:05:50Z")
Thanks for clearing that up for me, **tretiak**. My bad, **Guy**. Sua ---
**Author:** ![jLittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jLittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jLittle)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2000, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/13 "2000-11-01T08:34:02Z")
thanks everyone, i still feel that something’s missing in the collective understanding (if clapton decided to cover this song what made him do it - surely some intellectual motivation?). the reference to the seed strikes me as a marijuana stab, for sure. the deputy doesn’t seem arbitrary since he features so much. sherrif john brown is plainly a reference to the english whiteman (crazy baldhead), his name is carefully chosen for this. and then there’s the matter of the bucket going to the well. one thing’s clear, the bottom sure has dropped out of this post. but at least i don’t feel so alone in my lack of understanding. thank-you all. 😉 j ---
**Author:** ![pezwookiee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pezwookiee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezwookiee)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/14 "2000-11-03T04:09:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by absoul \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Guy Propski \* > > \*\* > > It’s not clear in the story, but it seems to me that the singer was either a slave, or a field hand on a plantation. > > > > \*\* > > IMPO and from stories I have heard, the sherrif is telling the singer not to plant any more Marijuana. He says- > “Every time that I plant a seed he said > “Kill it before it grow,” he said “Kill it before it grow.”” > > \*\* Are you serious when you’re saying you think “Kill it before it grow” refers to Marijuana? I’m thinking this is more figurative language. Killing it before it grows can be speaking of revolution, ideas, that kind of stuff. I think there’s more to this song… ---
**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/15 "2000-11-03T14:38:28Z")
I’m pretty sure that is the case. If you were a long time smoker, you would certainly catch the reference to that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/16 "2000-11-03T17:35:06Z")
Through a purple haze, I recall that this was a song about a simple ganja farmer who was always being harrassed by the sheriff. When Bob Marley originally wrote it, it was **I Shot the Policeman (Police Chief?)**, but thought that would be too inflammatory, so he changed it to sheriff. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-shot-the-sherriff/39067/17 "2000-11-03T17:42:49Z")
I remember from somewhere that John Brown was some sort or other of thug in Jamaica, but I can’t remember if he was a gangster, a lackey for the whites or what. IIRC, he lived between 1930 and 1965 or so. I think I read about him in Smithsonian, but it could have been anywhere. Does anyone else remember this or anything like it?