| Bob Marley and the Wailers – I Shot The Sheriff Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I don't think it's about racism either. It's about people's hopes and dreams being crushed by the authorities, which may or may not be because of racism. The sheriff isn't painted as racist but authoritian, violent and cruel. We are specifically told the narrator doesn't know why he is targeted. We don't even know what race he is. We do know that he destroys without reason and attacked when the character achieved some measure of freedom and seemed about to go beyond his power (leaving the town the sheriff had jurisdiction over). | |
| Bob Marley and the Wailers – I Shot The Sheriff Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| The only line that supports the marijuana interpretation is "every time I plant a seed". If he's planting MJ then how did freedom come his way? Why is he "starting out of town"? This points far more to his views of about blacks returning to Africa. The sheriff isn't coming after him for doing anything illegal, otherwise the hatred wouldn't be a puzzle to the narrator. The sheriff came after him because that's the sort of guy he is, and possibly to prevent the narrator escaping his clutches permanently. | |
| Bob Marley and the Wailers – I Shot The Sheriff Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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First of all it's not about drugs. The seeds he plants can't be MJ or why would he be confused about the sheriff hating him? No the seeds are any attempt by the narrator to expand and advance his life. In spite of the sheriff's efforts freedom comes, "so I started out of town". He's leaving and the sheriff will have no further control of him, what changed that allows him to leave when he couldn't before isn't stated. The leaving might have to do with going Africa, it might not. In any case it is at that stage that the sheriff attacks. It is when the authorities see you escaping their grasp that they are msot vicious. The narrator then gets blamed not only for the his legitimate use of force in self defence but another incident that had nothing to do with him. Thus people who try to become free will be lumped in with plain murderers. Of course this interpretaton depends on the narrators claims being accurate. Of course this interpreation |
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