"A Prisoner of the Past" is a single by English pop band Prefab Sprout, released by Kitchenware Records on 21 April 1997.

Paddy McAloon originally wrote "A Prisoner of the Past" in the spring of 1989[3] 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".

[7] Prefab Sprout performed "A Prisoner of the Past" on BBC1's The National Lottery Live two days ahead of its release date of 21 April 1997.

[16] Bob Eborall wrote in the Ealing Leader that the track was "catchy" and "a winner",[17] 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".

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".