I still love the song some 15 years later every time I run across it on my iPod.  I think it is sung from a woman's perspective the same way "Bobby McGee" was covered by the Grateful Dead even though it was originally done by Janis Joplin. I don't know who wrote the song. It is a great tune about the loss of innocence of two young hippie-ish kids.   It reminds me of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" although not quite as darkly tragic. "Wait" was the big hit off this album but "James" I think kills it with its sentimentality.