Prisoner of Love (Tin Machine song)

{{Infobox song

| name = Prisoner of Love

| cover = TinMachine_PrisonerOfLove.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Tin Machine

| album = Tin Machine

| B-side = "Baby Can Dance" (Live) / "Crack City" (Live)

| released = 30 October 1989

| recorded = August 1988 – early 1989;
studio material recorded at
Mountain Studios, Montreux Switzerland,
and Compass Point Studios, Nassau
live recording
25th of June 1989;
at La Cigale, Paris

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Rock

| length = 4:09

| label = EMI
MT 76

| writer = David Bowie

| producer = {{Flatlist|

}}

| prev_title = Tin Machine

| prev_title2 = Maggie's Farm (live)

| prev_year = 1989

| next_title = You Belong in Rock n' Roll

| next_year = 1991

}}

"Prisoner of Love" is a song by Tin Machine taken from their eponymous debut album, issued as their third single in October 1989.

Song development

Bowie claimed at the time he wrote the song for his then-partner Melissa Hurley.{{cite book | title="The Complete David Bowie New Edition: Expanded and Updated" | last=Pegg | first=Nicholas | date=October 2016 | publisher=Titan Books}} It reads as worldly advice from the singer to his naive younger girlfriend.{{cite book | title=Ashes to Ashes The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016 | first=Chris | last=O'Leary | publisher=Repeater Books | year=2019 | isbn=9781912248308}}

Live performances and video

The band elected not to make music videos for singles from the album, and instead created a 13-minute megamix video, in which "Prisoner of Love" was included. The video, directed by Julien Temple, went unreleased commercially until its 30th anniversary in 2019.{{cite web | url=https://www.ilikeyouroldstuff.com/news/david-bowie-and-i-socks-sax-sex-shops-interview-reeves-gabrels |title=David Bowie & I: Socks, Sax & Sex Shops | date=3 June 2019 | access-date=6 June 2019 | last=McLennan |first=Scott}}

"Prisoner of Love" was performed during the 1989 Tin Machine Tour. The single was backed by live tracks recorded at La Cigale, Paris on 25 June 1989, and had a novel heart-shaped 7" picture disc release. It failed to chart in the UK or the US.