What is “I Shot the Sheriff” all about?
Bob has a little garden where he grows a sensible amount of ganja.
Along comes sheriff John Brown who says “Your little garden is illegal. You aren’t allowed to use that plant. Even if it is part of your deeply held religious beliefs.” The sheriff proceeds to destroy the garden and Bob escapes.
Now every time Bob tries to grow another garden (not just the herb, but anything productive Bob tries to do) the sheriff comes before it can grow and kills it. This goes on for far too long. Bob gets a job. John Brown gets him fired. Bob builds a house. John Brown burns it down. Bob makes a sandcastle. John Brown kicks it down.
Finally Bob has had enough and decides to leave town but on his way out the sheriff finds and confronts him. The sheriff is aiming to kill Bob. So in self defense Bob kills sheriff John Brown.
Now Bob is hiding out, waiting for an opportunity to escape but everyone in town is looking for him because they know he killed sheriff John Brown but somehow they also believe that he has killed the deputy. But Bob didn’t kill the deputy, he only killed sheriff John Brown in self defense.
To date no one knows who killed the deputy. Or why the deputy was killed. The case has long since gone cold and most have lost any hope of a suspect ever being found.
Now, this song is a work of fiction written by Oga Bob Marley. Bob never killed anyone o.
