Freedom came my way one day And I started out of town, yeah!
(SNIP)
Am I making any sense?
Absolutely. Lots of sense. I like freedom comes his way as a simple release from prison, rather than an escape, but either-or: You are illustrating the inherently unlimited number of interpretative variations on the possible events (as opposed to the deeper and meta meanings of the song, which c2w? has covered most compellingly).
Like, here's another one:
The deputy was shot years ago. Nattie was wrongly imprisoned for the crime. Freedom came his way. The Sheriff too, on the same day, and perforce Nattie shot him down. Now everyone figures he's a compulsive serial killer of Babylonian polices. But no, he never shot no deputy! And JAH knows it, which is all that's going to matter in the end.
Well, that's *definitely* not the answer, but you see? We can do this forever.
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I suppose we could theoretically create a virtually unlimited number of interpretative variations on the possible events, but they would become increasingly bizarre and disconnected from the actual lyrics.
For instance, I had considered that the deputy was shot years before and that was what Nattie was wrongly imprisoned for when I struggled to create a timeline of events, but that did not seem to be supported very well at all by the lyrics and so I abandoned the attempt. Likewise the theory that "I" is a different Nattie than any other Nattie.
Reflexes had got the better of me And what is to be must be:
When a rastaman refers to himself as "me" there is a reason.
C2W? did indeed offer a pretty compelling interpretation of the symbolic meaning of the song, although it needs some fleshing out. I'm not convinced though that Nattie felt that deputy shooting was beneath him. I think when Nattie says, "But I didn't shoot no deputy", he does not mean, "But I did not shoot no petty flatfoot", rather he means, "what deputy?", as in "Where was the deputy?".
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." - Martin Luther King Jr.
Everyone knows that I shot the sherriff, or at least declaimed that I did. But don't you wonder who shot the deputy? (In this community it's hard to believe this question has never been asked before.)
I shot the sheriff But Eye didnt shoot no deputy, oh no! oh!
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Answer: Derrick(& Patsy)'cause really, if you're gonna shoot someone, it pays to have a patsy...
In the meantime: Anyone have any new ideas on this case?
Eric Clapton (Crapton)
or, more likely, the sheriff shot the deputy, since he'd gone off his rocker and was known to have been aiming to shoot at least one other person for no reason. Possibly the singer is even a witness to the sheriff's murder of the deputy.
By 1964 there were 1.5 million mobile phone users in the US
In the meantime: Anyone have any new ideas on this case?
Eric Clapton (Crapton)
or, more likely, the sheriff shot the deputy, since he'd gone off his rocker and was known to have been aiming to shoot at least one other person for no reason. Possibly the singer is even a witness to the sheriff's murder of the deputy.
Come on drew, we've been through this. If Nattie witnessed the Sherriff killing the Deputy, then he wouldn't be asking, "Where was the Deputy," because he'd know.
Anyway, if I've finally understood c2w?, only one person has been shot. Nattie shot the Sherriff, who not only was an exponent of Babylonian injustice, but also had decided on his own to murder Nattie in cold blood. It was self-defense. But the Babylonians are calling this same victim a Deputy, meaning: the appointed agent of a legitimate state. And Nattie's saying, how is that a Deputy, who wants to shoot me in the back? He was the Sheriff, and he had it coming, and I am without guilt, which anyway is for Jah to decide.
Compelling, beautiful, but I still don't think so.
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We meet at the borders of our being, we dream something of each others reality. - Harvey of R.I.
To Justice my maker from on high did incline: I am by virtue of its might divine, The highest Wisdom and the first Love.
no the sheriff shot the deputy and sent the townfolk after Nattie, intending to frame him for the murder. Nattie had been attempting to establish a grow op, but the sheriff already had a monopoly on local production and didn't want the competition, so always was forcing him to destroy his crops. Nonetheless, Nattie had harvested a small crop and was on his way to sell in another town. Meanwhile, the nosy deputy discovered the sheriff farming his own crop and was shot to keep him silent. In the ensuing manhunt the sheriff locates Nattie en-route to the city and is about to shoot him, but had to gloat for a moment, giving Nattie time to pull his own gun in self defense. Nattie asks where the deputy is because he wants to forensically demonstrate that he was not shot by the same gun that later shot the sheriff.
By 1964 there were 1.5 million mobile phone users in the US
justdrew wrote:no the sheriff shot the deputy and sent the townfolk after Nattie, intending to frame him for the murder. Nattie had been attempting to establish a grow op, but the sheriff already had a monopoly on local production and didn't want the competition, so always was forcing him to destroy his crops. Nonetheless, Nattie had harvested a small crop and was on his way to sell in another town. Meanwhile, the nosy deputy discovered the sheriff farming his own crop and was shot to keep him silent. In the ensuing manhunt the sheriff locates Nattie en-route to the city and is about to shoot him, but had to gloat for a moment, giving Nattie time to pull his own gun in self defense. Nattie asks where the deputy is because he wants to forensically demonstrate that he was not shot by the same gun that later shot the sheriff.
Now that's a pitch. Who can we get to write this? I like Chiwetel Ejiofor for Nattie and who's a heavy, can we get Wesley Snipes for the Sheriff? We're still missing a Girl, you know.
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We meet at the borders of our being, we dream something of each others reality. - Harvey of R.I.
To Justice my maker from on high did incline: I am by virtue of its might divine, The highest Wisdom and the first Love.
justdrew wrote:no the sheriff shot the deputy and sent the townfolk after Nattie, intending to frame him for the murder. Nattie had been attempting to establish a grow op, but the sheriff already had a monopoly on local production and didn't want the competition, so always was forcing him to destroy his crops. Nonetheless, Nattie had harvested a small crop and was on his way to sell in another town. Meanwhile, the nosy deputy discovered the sheriff farming his own crop and was shot to keep him silent. In the ensuing manhunt the sheriff locates Nattie en-route to the city and is about to shoot him, but had to gloat for a moment, giving Nattie time to pull his own gun in self defense. Nattie asks where the deputy is because he wants to forensically demonstrate that he was not shot by the same gun that later shot the sheriff.
Now that's a pitch. Who can we get to write this? I like Chiwetel Ejiofor for Nattie and who's a heavy, can we get Wesley Snipes for the Sheriff? We're still missing a Girl, you know.
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well, no woman... no cry
By 1964 there were 1.5 million mobile phone users in the US
In the meantime: Anyone have any new ideas on this case?
I always thought that by 'sheriff' Marley meant 'the Pope'? In other words, he is forced by his situation, i.e. Rastafarianism, to confront the Pope when all he is doing is 'every time I plant a seed' of Rastafarian knowledge the 'sheriff' cuts that seed down.
i'd say that a "dual" reading, i.e. both concrete and mystical is required, not exclusive, in the sense that, in the grand scheme of things, every human act also has a higher meaning or spiritual significance. (guess i'm with c2w?, or Marley's lyrics, as is the case, on this one.) for reality is a whole, a yin-yang proposition and not a dichotomy:
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God...
what's been missing from the thread though is the overall context of Burnin'. it's an album -- my favorite Wailer's album, actually.
minor note, overstanding is to understanding, as reason is to rationality.
so, who shot the deputy?
no one did. no deputy was shot, ever, anywhere, by anyone. (although there is the possibility that the sheriff was demoted posthumously, but it's pretty far out.)
so, Nattie (as c2w? dubbed the song's protagonist), in regards to the crime he is accused of, as reported in the news (that he shot a deputy) has been falsely accused. but that's Babylon for you.
i'll start here. ("I Shot the Sheriff" is the 3rd track on side A.)
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
here's a relevant quote from track 8: "Duppy Conqueror" (the 3rd track on side B):
Yes me friend We de a street again Yes me friend (me good friend) Dem say we're free again The bars could not hold me Force could not control me, now They try to keep me down But Jah put I around Yes, I've been accused (many a times) And wrongly abused, now But through the powers of the most-high They've got to turn me loose Don't try to cold me up on this bridge, now I've got to reach mount zion - The highest region So if you're a bull-bucker, Let me tell you this - I'm a duppy conqueror, conqueror!
a duppy or bull buck is a malign spirit or demon, but also, a leech or human vampire (cf., Lee Perry: Vampire (this version by Sinead)) -- a minion of, or the oppressor, who, though manifest in flesh and blood is of the "principalities [and] powers... the rulers of the darkness of this world [and a representative of] spiritual wickedness in high places". comes to the same.
so the sheriff is "the Man". he is Pharoah to Nattie's Moses. Herod to Nattie's Jesus. evil in spirit and/or incarnate. and he got what's coming to him. -- now, is Nattie "guilty"? is killing the sheriff a "capital crime" as they say? depends on whose law you're referencing. -- in another, worldly, sense, Natties is as guilty as the day is long because he refuses to conform or be bound by the law of the land or the laws of Pharoah. that is to say, he is righteous. as the other Bob said, "To live outside the law you must be honest". that's an imperative, a commandment if you will.
so freedom came Nattie's way one day, or in the grand scheme of things, Jah set him free, spiritually and physically. and physically does not necessarily mean that he was imprisoned in fact, because Babylon mind-control is itself a prison, cf. Foucault's Panopticon, -- and to realise that one is in chains is also part of what it means to be free(d): "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery/ None but ourselves can free our minds".
and Nattie heads out of town, out of Babylon, is about to cross over to Zion when the sheriff pops up out of nowhere to cold him on that bridge, and so... "I shot the sheriff".
i thought of writing more on this and tying in other tracks from Burnin' but i think you get the gist of it. otherwise listen to the album and reason on it.
side A opens with (track 1) "Get Up Stand Up" and side B opens with (track 6 or 1) "Small Axe"; the sides close respectively with "Put It On" and, my favorite track off the album, the traditional "Rastaman Chant" with which i'll close this.
I hear the words of the rasta man say Babylon your throne gone down, gone down Babylon your throne gone down
Said, I hear the words of the higher man say Babylon your throne gone down, gone down Babylon your throne gone down
And I hear the angel with the seven seals Babylon your throne's gone down, gone down Babylon your throne gone down
I say fly away home to zion, fly away home I say fly away to zion, fly away home One bright morning when my work is over Man will fly away home
One bright morning when my work is over Man will fly away home One brlght morning when my work is over Man will fly away home
I say fly away home to zion, fly away home I say fly away to zion, fly away home One bright morning when my work is over Man will fly away home
*
"Teach them to think. Work against the government." – Wittgenstein.
I see it as a reenactment of the messianic impulse.
This is the seed (the personal)...
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.
This is the crime (transpersonal)...
Sheriff john brown always hated me, For what, I dont know: Every time I plant a seed, He said kill it before it grow - He said kill them before they grow.
The conflict and resolution (dreamlogic)...
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.
Clapton's response...
Standing at the crossroads, trying to read the signs To tell me which way I should go to find the answer, And all the time I know, Plant your love and let it grow. Let it grow, let it grow, Let it blossom, let it flow. In the sun, the rain, the snow, Love is lovely, let it grow. Looking for a reason to check out of my mind, Trying hard to get a friend that I can count on, But there's nothing left to show, Plant your love and let it grow. Time is getting shorter and there's much for you to do. Only ask and you will get what you are needing, The rest is up to you. Plant your love and let it grow.
Mind you, the fact that the Vidocq Society haven't figured out yet that Vidocq himself was a big lying sociopathic fraud indicates that they might not be all they're cracked up to be.
Surely, if no deputy was shot, because the deputy was actually the sherriff, who only thought of himself as a deputy in order to absolve himself of blame for the oppression he conciously and purposely practised against Nattie and others - "I'm just a deputy. I was only following orders" - then the question posed by the OP is entirely moot?
"The universe is 40 billion light years across and every inch of it would kill you if you went there. That is the position of the universe with regard to human life."
AhabsOtherLeg wrote:I tried a search on Websleuths, but they don't seem to know either. Might need to bring in the Vidocq Society on this one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidocq_Society).
Mind you, the fact that the Vidocq Society haven't figured out yet that Vidocq himself was a big lying sociopathic fraud indicates that they might not be all they're cracked up to be.
Surely, if no deputy was shot, because the deputy was actually the sherriff, who only thought of himself as a deputy in order to absolve himself of blame for the oppression he conciously and purposely practised against Nattie and others - "I'm just a deputy. I was only following orders" - then the question posed by the OP is entirely moot?
I'm certainly fine with that as an explanation if one can show it in the text. I think we did that one above -- to Nattie, John Brown is the Sherriff, but to Babylon he is but a deputy and so they diminish Nattie's just act by calling Brown thus. (Or deputy may even be Brown's actual title.)
I'm definitely fine with VK's overall interpretation (and c2w?'s, they're compatible) and don't want to seem ploddingly literalist about this... but all right then, modify the question to "What is the deputy?" and I think you'll see it's still not settled and not minor, or Nattie wouldn't be insisting on its importance with every refrain: I hear the song saying not just that Nattie didn't shoot the deputy (whether or not any deputy was shot at all is separate) but that deputy-shooting wouldn't be good and Nattie finds the accusation unjust.
Here's another version I'm willing to go with: Babylon is claiming a deputy shooting that may not have even happened to stir up My Hometown against Nattie, because otherwise My Hometown finds the Sherriff-shooting acceptable and might make a hero of Nattie for it. It's a variation on "kill it before it grow." Or, to transpose this to Baader-Meinhof terms, you might get props in some quarters for offing Schleyer but not if you also kill his chauffeur.
But what does the text really say, I ask in my hopelessly conditioned Western way. Because the poetry goes together with a set of factual assertions (such as that Brown was shot down on the outskirts of town), and I'd love to have those cleared up.
Just call me "Internal Affairs."
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We meet at the borders of our being, we dream something of each others reality. - Harvey of R.I.
To Justice my maker from on high did incline: I am by virtue of its might divine, The highest Wisdom and the first Love.
