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The reggae group Inner Circle was formed in 1968 by the brothers Ian and Roger Lewis in Jamaica. At first they covered soul and R&B hits from the United States, and then also a few reggae songs, predominantly from Bob Marley.
The band released two albums as The Inner Circle in 1974 for jamaican label "Starapple"(and they were distributed by "Trojan" in UK), and resigned to Capitol Records in 1976, and Island Records(where the internationally successful album "Everything Is Great" originated. This album reached top 20 in the UK and preceded their other chart success by some years) in 1979.
Inner Circle was decidedly influenced through the original member Jacob Miller, the frontman and lead singer who was killed in a car crash on March 23, 1980. At the end of the 1970s Inner Circle with Jacob "Killer" Miller was more popular in Jamaica than Bob Marley. The band also appeared in the reggae cult film Rockers in 1978.
After the loss of Jacob Miller, Inner Circle broke up, but in 1982 another album called Something So Good was released. In 1986 Ian and Roger Lewis reestablished Inner Circle with the singer Carlton Coffie, and the band experienced a comeback with the album Black Roses.
In 1989, Inner Circle released the song "Bad Boys." Since then, the band calls itself "The Bad Boys of Reggae". They had another big hit with the 1993 song "Sweat (A La La La La Long)."
The lead singer Carlton Coffie was ill for a long period in 1995 and decided after his recuperation to start a solo career. The current singer Kris Bentley took his place.
i shot the sheriff
Inner Circle Lyrics
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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.)
Yeah! All around 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 deputy,
But I say:
Oh, now, now. Oh!
(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.)
Yeah! (Ooh, ooh, oo-oh) Yeah!
Sheriff John Brown always hated me,
For what, I don't know:
Every time I plant a seed,
He said kill it before it grow -
He said kill them before they grow.
And so:
Read it in the news:
(I shot the sheriff.) Oh, Lord!
(But I swear it was in self-defence.)
[I Shot The Sheriff lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]
Where was the deputy? (Oo-oo-oh)
I say: I shot the sheriff,
But I swear it was in selfdefence. (Oo-oh) Yeah!
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.
(I shot the sheriff,)
But I say (But I didn't shoot no deputy),
I didn't shoot no deputy (oh, no-oh), oh no!
(I shot the sheriff.) I did!
But I didn't shoot no deputy. Oh! (Oo-oo-ooh)
Reflexes had got 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:
I - I - I - I shot the sheriff.
Lord, I didn't shot the deputy. Yeah!
I - I (shot the sheriff) -
But I didn't shoot no deputy, yeah! No, yeah!
The song I Shot The Sheriff by Inner Circle tells a story, through the perspective of its narrator, of how they shot the sheriff but did not shoot the deputy. The singer is from a small town where everyone is trying to hunt them down for the killing of the deputy, but the singer defends their actions as an act of self-defense. They recall how Sheriff John Brown always hated them and would ask them to kill their seeds, implying that the sheriff was oppressive and controlling. The singer knows they will have to pay for their actions if they are found guilty, but they maintain that they did not shoot the deputy.
The song is a powerful commentary on oppression and social injustice. It suggests that sometimes people are pushed to take extreme actions when they are constantly being oppressed and their rights are being taken away. The Sheriff and the deputy represent the forces of oppression in the society, and the singer's actions represent the collective frustration of the oppressed masses. The song is also a testament to the power of music as a form of protest and a way to voice the frustration of the marginalized.
Line by Line Meaning
I shot the sheriff
I killed the sheriff
But I didn't shoot no deputy, oh no! Oh!
I did not kill any deputy
Yeah! All around 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 deputy, For the life of a deputy.
In my hometown, authorities are trying to arrest me for killing a deputy
But I swear it was in selfdefence. Oh, no! Yeah!
I claim self-defense as the reason for killing the sheriff
And they say it is a capital offence. Yeah!
Killing a sheriff is a capital offense
Sheriff John Brown always hated me, For what, I don't know: Every time I plant a seed, He said kill it before it grow - He said kill them before they grow.
Sheriff John Brown had always disliked me for unknown reasons, and he did not let me grow anything
Where was the deputy? I say: I shot the sheriff, But I swear it was in selfdefence.
I wonder where the deputy was when I killed the sheriff, but I maintain that it was self-defense
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.
I left town when I got the chance, but Sheriff John Brown pursued to kill me, and I killed him instead and will accept the consequences if guilty
I shot the sheriff, But I say (But I didn't shoot no deputy), I didn't shoot no deputy (oh, no-oh), oh no!
I killed the sheriff, but I want to reiterate that I did not kill any deputy
Reflexes had got 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:
My reflexes took over, and things happen as they should. Like a bucket that goes to the well, there's one day it will no longer work
I - I - I - I shot the sheriff. Lord, I didn't shot the deputy. Yeah! I - I (shot the sheriff) - But I didn't shoot no deputy, yeah! No, yeah!
I repeat that I killed the sheriff but not the deputy, and want to emphasize that once again
Contributed by Charlie M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Eddie Talks
Muito bom. Sonzaço, velhos tempos.
James Barton
Awesome version! They sing it damn good!
David Gomez
excelente version!
Casey Jones
This was a fantastic group, before Miller's death... I collected their complete discography, and I am pretty sure of things that i'm saying...
Frank332666
What a great cover! I don't know if I prefer the original or this one
AnjMan1
This version does Bob Marley justice. And is a million times better than the Eric Clapton cover! Inner Circle rocks it all day!
Bahamut ZERO
You miss the point of EC's version. Clapton was a fusion artist.
Carlos Augusto M. Costa
Nunca vai ficar igual... mas o backing vocais ficaram bons.
QuasiTraction
I dig it.
Lesley Hind
I love it keep the good work up