Arlo Guthrie (born 10th July 1947, Brooklyn, New York ) is an American folk… Read Full Bio ↴Arlo Guthrie (born 10th July 1947, Brooklyn, New York ) is an American folk singer who is the son of folk singer and composer Woody Guthrie and his wife Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, a one-time professional dancer with the Martha Graham Company and founder of The Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease. He graduated from the Stockbridge School of Massachusetts in 1965, and briefly attended Rocky Mountain College.

His most famous work is Alice's Restaurant, a talking blues song that lasts eighteen minutes and twenty seconds (in its original recorded version; Guthrie has been known to spin the story out to forty-five minutes in concert). The song, a bitingly satirical protest against the Vietnam War draft, is based on a true incident. In the song, Guthrie was called up for a draft examination, and rejected as unfit for military service as a result of a criminal record consisting in its entirety of a single arrest, court appearance, fine and clean-up order for littering. In reality, Guthrie, though a carrier of the genetically inherited disease Huntington's chorea, was classified as fit (1A); however, his draft-lottery number did not come up.

Lightning Bar Blues
Arlo Guthrie Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

[Chorus]
I don't need no diamond ring
I don't need no Cadillac car
Just want to drink my Ripple wine
Down in the Lightnin' Bar
Down in the Lightnin' Bar

Some people value fortune and fame

I don't care about 'em none
Just want to drink my Ripple wine
I want to have my good time fun
Have my good time fun

[Chorus]

When I die don't cry for me
Don't bury me at all
Place my livin', laughin', lovin' bones
In a jar of alcohol
Hundred proof alcohol

[Chorus]

Overall Meaning

The song starts with the assertion that the singer doesn't need material possessions such as a diamond ring or a Cadillac car to be content. Instead, all they seek is a simple pleasure in life, which is drinking their Ripple wine down in the Lightnin' Bar. The next verse establishes the contrast between the singer and the people who value fortune and fame. The singer declares that they don't care about these things but instead want to have good time fun, which again, is drinking Ripple wine in the Lightnin' Bar. The song's emphasis on this specific location highlights the importance of community and the camaraderie that comes from sharing a drink with friends in a familiar setting.

The last verse places the emphasis on the singer's ultimate fate. They don't want to be buried conventionally. Instead, they want to be placed in a jar of alcohol, specifically a hundred-proof one. This reinforces the importance of drinking and the Lightnin' Bar in the singer's life. The chorus repeats the fact that the singer just wants to drink Ripple wine and have a good time in the Lightnin' Bar, highlighting the song's central theme.

Line by Line Meaning

I don't need no diamond ring
Expensive jewelry is not important to me.

I don't need no Cadillac car
I don't care for luxurious automobiles.

Just want to drink my Ripple wine
I am content with my cheap and common wine called Ripple.

Down in the Lightnin' Bar
I enjoy hanging out at the Lightnin' Bar.

Some people value fortune and fame
Wealth and popularity are highly prized by some individuals.

I don't care about 'em none
However, I am not interested in those things at all.

I want to have my good time fun
I just want to have a good time.

When I die don't cry for me
Please don't mourn my death.

Don't bury me at all
I don't want a traditional burial.

Place my livin', laughin', lovin' bones
Instead, preserve my body as if I'm still alive and happy.

In a jar of alcohol
Keep me in a jar filled with 100 proof alcohol.