A Little Thought

In his video A Little Thought (2000), Rodney Graham immerses us in a world of kitsch and sentimentality. Cherry blossom branches against a blue sky, a family of ducks happily paddling in a pond, and a lakeside road alternate with images of a red guitar lovingly caressed with a pom-pom. Their aesthetic is reminiscent of private Super-8 home videos from the 1970s. Graham accompanies these visuals with a melancholic song, A Little Thought, written and composed by him. The song tells the story of a car accident caused by his lover, in which both lost their lives. A "little thought" distracted her from the traffic. Since the song explains the circumstances of its creation, the story cannot actually exist in its temporal context. Perhaps it instead tells of the bittersweet thoughts that sometimes slip into one’s mind when happiness seems too perfect.