i shot the sheriff

“I Shot the Sheriff” is a song written and first published by reggae singer Marley and the Beaners. The song was released on the band’s fourth album, “‘Burnin'”, in 1973 and is considered one of Marley’s famous protest songs. The song has had many cover versions.

“I Shot The Sheriff’ is like I shot wickedness,” Bob Marley said in a 1975 interview. “That’s not really a sheriff, it’s the elements of wickedness. The elements of that song is people have been judging you and you can’t stand it no more and you explode, you just explode.”

According to the book Wailing Blues — The Story of Bob Marley’s Wailers, Marley seemed to enjoy keeping a shroud of mystery around the song. The book describes when Marley first met Eric Clapton, whose cover of “I Shot The Sheriff” went on to become a #1 hit. Author John Masouri reports that Marley wouldn’t give a direct answer to Clapton about the song’s meaning, telling him some of the lyrics were true but refusing to divulge which ones.

According to Esther Anderson, a former girlfriend of Marley who co-directed the 2011 documentary Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend, the song’s lyrics grew out of their disagreements over her use of birth control. In a review of Anderson’s film in the Miami New Times, J.J. Colagrande reported that Marley believed using birth control was a sin and “the doctor who prescribed those baby-killing pills became the sheriff.”

this part of the song having particular significance: “Sheriff John Brown always hated me/For what, I don’t know/Every time I plant a seed/He said kill it before it grows.”

As people have often interpreted the meaning of “plant a seed” as a marijuana reference, this new revelation gives listeners an interesting alternative. Instead of a police officer telling Marley to kill his pot plants, perhaps the song is talking about Marley’s anger towards a doctor prescribing his girlfriend birth control.

Without Marley here to give us his version of the story, it is unfair to say the song is about one fixed topic. But it is interesting to consider Ester Anderson’s version of how “I Shot The Sheriff” came to be while listening to the song.

All that remains for us today is to continue enjoying this musical work

link for the song-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG52YAe8Crg