Yeah, well, I'd be the first to agree that the young have no monopoly on love or heartbreak, but as Uncle Dave says, there are things about the song that suggest these are young people, another being the involvement of the parents...

Actually, what first brought the detail in the science story to my mind was the emphasis on William's heartbreak, even more than Barbara's. There are certainly plenty of other women in folk song who die of broken hearts upon which to devise your parodies! :-)

~ Becky in Tucson