Not old, but not young, old enough to sound like he might know the experience of the song's subject matter (though I'm not assuming it was autobiographical). That's why I mistakenly had Harvey Andrews in mind. I realise now that Mr Andrews was probably only 31 or so at that time - not old but a wee bit older than some of the other 'contemporary' songwriters of the time. This all sounds a bit silly, but in my mind the singer was at least 40! No attacks please!