An upright surfboard and a small cactus stand on red sand beside turquoise water under a pink sunset.

Original artwork, not a still

Lucille

I'd rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

An over-the-top state rivalry, boiled down to one exaggerated choice. Being dead in one place beats being alive in the other, which is obviously not meant to be weighed calmly. The joke is how strongly the speaker prefers one location to the other.

Context reviewed

Share this quote