paid the full value of his output. The song is written from the perspective of a man who has just been fired from his job, and is now relating his experience to an unnamed acquaintance. In an early live performance of the song on college radio station KUCI in Irvine, California, Samson described the song as being about the dot-com bust. "Tournament of Hearts" The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is Canada's annual women's curling championship. The song is written from the perspective of a man who spends all his free time at the curling club, partly out of his love of the sport and partly because of communication problems in his marriage: "Why, why can't I draw right up to what I want to say? Why can't I ever stop where I want to stay? I slide right through the day, I'm always throwing hack weight." Tournament of Hearts was also the title of the third album by The Constantines, which that band released soon after touring with The Weakerthans in 2003. In an interview with CBC Radio 3 to promote the release of Reunion Tour, Samson claimed that the Constantines chose the album title at his urging. "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" This is the second song the band has written from the point of view of Virtute, a cat. The first was "Plea from a Cat Named Virtute", which appeared on the previous album Reconstruction Site. The word virtute is the ablative of virtus, meaning "virtue," "strength," and "goodness" in Latin, and appears in the civic motto of Winnipeg, Unum cum virtute multorum ("one with the strength of many"). The story of Virtute concluded on Samson's 2016 solo album Winter Wheat, with the songs "Virtute at Rest" detailing Virtute's final thoughts before death and "17th Street Treatment Center" documenting Virtute's owner's stint in a drug rehabilitation program. The Art of Time Ensemble featuring (former Barenaked Ladies singer) Steven Page covered "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" on their 2010 record A Singer Must Die. "Elegy for Gump Worsley" Gump Worsley was a Canadian hockey player who died in 2007. He is viewed as a punk sports icon, having also inspired the Huevos Rancheros song "Gump Worsley's Lament" and the title of Sons of Freedom's 1991 album Gump. "Sun in an Empty Room" The song is written from the perspective of a man who is in the process