This is one of my top 5 favorite Ben Harper songs. The meaning of it to me varies when I hear it.
By that I mean sometimes I think when he says he's a fool for a lonesome train he means at a certain point in each of his relationships, he leaves to pursue something else which puts him alone. He is basically choosing to leave the relationship when it gets deep, like he is scared of getting past a certain emotional or commitment point in a relationship. "I've made promises that I can't keep" meaning he tells the girls he wants it to last forever, but it's eating at his conscious because he knows he won't let it last.
Then sometimes (because this is more personal to me) I think it means when he sees a person alone that is a "diamond in the rough", he pursues them. Then once that girl is better, he moves on to the next person to help, rather than just finding someone that doesn't need the help. In this interpretation I believe "Lonely Train" to mean someone that needs his help, someone that hasn't really figured relationships or life in general out. I know this probably has nothing to do with why he wrote it, but sometimes the personal meaning a song takes to an individual is as important as the original purpose of that song.
aquariusdream - I agree about the Neil Young sound, I thought of it the first time I heard the song.
This is one of my top 5 favorite Ben Harper songs. The meaning of it to me varies when I hear it.
By that I mean sometimes I think when he says he's a fool for a lonesome train he means at a certain point in each of his relationships, he leaves to pursue something else which puts him alone. He is basically choosing to leave the relationship when it gets deep, like he is scared of getting past a certain emotional or commitment point in a relationship. "I've made promises that I can't keep" meaning he tells the girls he wants it to last forever, but it's eating at his conscious because he knows he won't let it last.
Then sometimes (because this is more personal to me) I think it means when he sees a person alone that is a "diamond in the rough", he pursues them. Then once that girl is better, he moves on to the next person to help, rather than just finding someone that doesn't need the help. In this interpretation I believe "Lonely Train" to mean someone that needs his help, someone that hasn't really figured relationships or life in general out. I know this probably has nothing to do with why he wrote it, but sometimes the personal meaning a song takes to an individual is as important as the original purpose of that song.
aquariusdream - I agree about the Neil Young sound, I thought of it the first time I heard the song.