[andrew sharpe]

Interesting to note that the lyrics online are "She sang, They Checked Out An Hour Ago, and chuckled", so, if that's right, it's the chambermaid chuckling, not the narrator. And she would chuckle, as she's being clever by quoting a song lyric in response to the narrator asking about his friend. It does sound like Gord singing "I chuckled", which I took to be the narrator chuckling at hearing the maid singing his friend's song. I never took the hotel to be the site of the suicide. Ellison killed himself in his garage, though it's possible Gord fictionalized the suicide for this song and was implying it happened at the hotel.

I also love the "number scheme" running through the song. 3rd & 4th time in NY, 5th & 6th on the bill, 7th floor (or live, the 704, a highway?). Not that it's THAT clever, but it just fits the song well.