Bob Marley
Eric Clapton
Hi, fellow bloggers!
Today's song is I Shot the Sheriff, by Bob Marley (original) and Eric Clapton (cover).
This song was written by Bob Marley, and afterwards covered by Eric Clapton. I have to admite that I prefer Clapton's approach to the song, though I relly like Bob's interpretation. Acctually, it was Eric's version of the song that came out to be the most succesful, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As for it's lyrics meaning I think that Bob uses the analogy of weed being illegal to show the oppression we are under. I don't get why people always assume that Bob's songs have to be all about drugs. Bob Marley was so much than that. Yes, he smoked the pot every day, and admited himself had never written a song sober, he was a Rastafarian prophet, come on!
Marley's profound lyrics shouldn't be reduced to a plea for the legalization of cannabis or the likes (not that I disagree with legalization, au contraire, just that I think he is sometimes miss interpretend for his habits and for the fact that cannabis is central for Rastafarians in their beliefs).
Anyway, this song is reffering to the blantant injustice, its about planting seeds of though and ideas into people, not weed (however I do believe it can be a double entry, him being talking about pot as a cover up but meaning political ideas).
Ev'ry time I plant a seed/He said, "Kill it before it grows."/He said, "Kill them before they grow." - the "seed" can be the belief or idea that he was trying to plant. To get people to uprise and stand for their rights. One of them being the right to smoke marijuana. Or perhaps this song is about racism in the police force. Sheriff John Brown comes after him using the excuse that he shot the deputy, but really he doesn't want him to settle down (hence the metaphor of the seed/plant/having roots).
I don't know if I'm right, but I guess there can be many meanings and that's another beauty of Bob's music.
As for it's lyrics meaning I think that Bob uses the analogy of weed being illegal to show the oppression we are under. I don't get why people always assume that Bob's songs have to be all about drugs. Bob Marley was so much than that. Yes, he smoked the pot every day, and admited himself had never written a song sober, he was a Rastafarian prophet, come on!
Marley's profound lyrics shouldn't be reduced to a plea for the legalization of cannabis or the likes (not that I disagree with legalization, au contraire, just that I think he is sometimes miss interpretend for his habits and for the fact that cannabis is central for Rastafarians in their beliefs).
Anyway, this song is reffering to the blantant injustice, its about planting seeds of though and ideas into people, not weed (however I do believe it can be a double entry, him being talking about pot as a cover up but meaning political ideas).
Ev'ry time I plant a seed/He said, "Kill it before it grows."/He said, "Kill them before they grow." - the "seed" can be the belief or idea that he was trying to plant. To get people to uprise and stand for their rights. One of them being the right to smoke marijuana. Or perhaps this song is about racism in the police force. Sheriff John Brown comes after him using the excuse that he shot the deputy, but really he doesn't want him to settle down (hence the metaphor of the seed/plant/having roots).
I don't know if I'm right, but I guess there can be many meanings and that's another beauty of Bob's music.
I Shot the Sheriff
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, ooh Yeah
All around in my hometown
They're tryin' to track me down, yeah
They say they want to bring me in guilty
For the killing of a deputy, for the life of a deputy
But I say, oh, now, now...
Oh, I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self defense
Ooh, ooh, ooh
I said, I shot the sheriff, Oh Lord
And they say it is a capital offense
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Hear this
Sheriff John Brown always hated me
For what I don't know
Ev'ry time I plant a seed
He said, "Kill it before it grows."
He said, "Kill them before they grow."
And so, oh, now, now,
Read it in the news
I shot the sheriff, but I swear it was in self defense
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Where was the deputy?
I said I shot the sheriff but I swear it was in 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 shot the sheriff, but I say, but I didn't shoot no deputy
Ooh, no, oh
I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot no deputy
Ooo, ooo, ooh
Reflexes had the better of me
And what is to be must be
Ev'ry 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, but I did not shoot the deputy, oh no
"I wanted to say 'I shot The Police' but the government would have made a fuss so I said 'I shot the Sheriff' instead... but it's the same idea: justice." — Bob Marley
xoxo, Lucy