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A Prisoner of the Past
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Wikipedia article
"'A Prisoner of the Past'" is a single by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Kitchenware Records on 21 April 1997. It was the first single taken from their album 'Andromeda Heights'. It reached No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart, and is the band's final top 40 hit to date.
Composition
Paddy McAloon originally wrote "A Prisoner of the Past" in the spring of 1989 for a proposed album of songs where he imagined he was writing for Phil Spector, wishing to emulate "all the niceties of Sixties pop music but with a more modern lyrical twist". "River Deep Mountain High", a 1966 Spector production for Ike & Tina Turner, was a specific inspiration, though McAloon ultimately felt too small a recording space and too few musicians made it "impossible to create the Spector sound". McAloon has described it as a revenge song, with the lyrics being a stalker's threat to a former lover. His "pathetic dream of revenge" is the notion that both of them will become ghosts.
Release
Two days before release, Prefab Sprout performed the song on BBC1s 'The National Lottery Live'. The song was playlisted by British radio stations including BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, Virgin Radio, Heart London and Key 103 Manchester. A music video was released for the song, filmed in black and white and featuring the band in a manor house.
Reception
Amongst contemporary reviews, the song was met with a warm reception. Several reviewers commented on the song's 1960s-inspired sound, and some made comparisons to the work of Scott Walker and The Divine Comedy. 'The Guardian's Phil Daoust considered the song "beautiful and seductive in a horrible kind of way, not least because its an unashamed homage to Phil Spector." Writing for the Italian magazine 'Musica', Enrico Sisti declared "A Prisoner of the Past" "a "Be My Baby" for 2000". Writing for the 'Sunday Tribune', Colm O'Callaghan highlighted the song's "wash of cinemascope strings and timpani drums over McAloon's lispish reverie", but felt the song could only really measure up in the context of 'Andromeda Heights'. Bob Eborall wrote in the 'Ealing Leader' that the track was "catchy" and "a winner", while an uncredited writer for the 'Irish Independent' praised McAloon's "typically florid melody structures" and described the song as "as exquisite as anything from his glorious past". 'Mojo's Chris Ingham was unfavourable, describing the song as "over-arranged" and "disappointing".
In 1999, Tom Ewing of 'Freaky Trigger' ranked "A Prisoner of the Past" at number 72 in his list of the "Top 100 Singles of the 90s". Ewing praised the song's "preposterous, sheer melodrama", describing it as "pure diva pop" and "a mock-epic of Broadway proportions, dwarfing everything on its puny parent album 'Andromeda Heights'".
Track listings
'CD1'
# "A Prisoner Of The Past" (Radio Edit) 3:51
# "A Prisoner Of The Past" (Album Version) 5:03
# "Just Because I Can" 3:55
# "Where The Heart Is" 2:04
'CD2'
# "A Prisoner Of The Past" (Radio Edit) 3:51
# "Just Because I Can" 3:54
# The King of Rock 'n' Roll 4:22
# Cars and Girls 4:26
References
Category:Prefab Sprout songs
Category:1997 singles
Category:Songs written by Paddy McAloon
Category:1997 songs
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