“I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley
In a 1975 interview, Bob Marley said that the sheriff was metaphorical. It was a metaphor for “elements of wickedness.” Marley said, “The elements of that song is people been judging you and you can’t stand it no more and you explode, you just explode.” His girlfriend, Esther Anderson, however, gave an alternate account. In a documentary, she said that Marley disagreed with her use of birth control, and that he thought it was a sin. The sheriff actually referred to the doctor who prescribed her the pills.