Prisoner (Miley Cyrus song)

Following the October 2019 release of her single "Don't Start Now", Lipa confirmed that she and Cyrus were planning on recording a collaboration.[2] In May of the following year, Lipa stated that she and Cyrus had decided to scrap their collaboration and record something different.[3] On September 14, 2020, Cyrus confirmed the collaboration with Lipa and that it would appear on her seventh studio album, Plastic Hearts.[4] At the beginning of October, after being spotted shooting a video together in New York City, rumblings that Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa were working on a secret project got even bigger.[5] In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena 100 on October 13, 2020, Cyrus stated that due to her and Lipa's fans "begging" for their collaboration to be released, they "[could] expect something pretty soon".[6] On November 13, 2020, Cyrus announced the song's title as "Prisoner", along with the Plastic Hearts track listing reveal.[7] Cyrus began teasing the single in a series of tweets where she confirmed its release and posted videos of her fans reacting to its music video.[8] Cyrus and Lipa announced the release of the song on November 18, 2020. The song was released on November 19.[9] "Prisoner" was later announced to be included in Lipa's second re-issue album Future Nostalgia: The Moonlight Edition (2021).[10]

In an interview to Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Cyrus said they had worked on other songs together in the past and praised Lipa:

For her and I, there's just no competition. That changes just everything. There's a true partnership. Then I also liked that it wasn't the first song we'd cut together. We actually cut other songs. She wanted to keep going until it was right, until we found the one that honors our individuality. [...] We just waited until we felt like, 'Now this is Dua-Miley song. You can just, everything about it reflects us.' I mean, there's even something to me, like how I talk about like fashion being a way to flip yourself inside out. The colors that I see, when I listen to a song, I see colors. Some people's charisma is really overwhelming. I see, when Dua's around, that her charisma, there's no sense of desperation to it, like, 'I've got to be the best because if I'm not what if...' There's a calmness to her success, which I really like. Because I feel like when you can tell someone is too much of a… or a survivalist. That I don't like.[11]

Cyrus described "Prisoner" as a perfect blend of her and Lipa's styles.[6] It is a dance,[12] dark-pop,[13] disco-punk,[14] disco-rock,[15] glam rock[16] and nu-disco track with a length of two minutes and forty nine seconds.[17] The song's chorus interpolates the melody from Olivia Newton-John's 1981 hit "Physical".[18] The song was composed using ⁴
₄ in the key of E♭ minor, with a moderately-fast tempo of 126–132 beats per minute. Cyrus' and Lipa's vocals range from the low note of B♭₃ to the high note of C♯₅.[19]

The lyrics to "Prisoner" relate to angst inspired by isolation feelings and were described by critics as a "heartache anthem" and a "glam declaration of independence".[18] In an article about the song's lyrics for Elle, Alyssa Bailey described the track as "a dark song that captures what it's like to be trapped in an unhealthy, manipulative relationship where their partner keeps pulling them back".[11] Some parallels can be drawn between the lyrics to "Prisoner" and Cyrus' old songs. The verse: "I try to replace it with the city lights" is an allusion to Cyrus' 2019 song "Slide Away", about her split from then husband Liam Hemsworth, where she sings: "So won't you slide away?/Back to the ocean, I'll go back to the city lights".[20] Another allusion to a Cyrus' old song can be seen in the pre-chorus where she sings: "You keep making it harder to stay", in which is a contrast to the lyrics to her 2010 song "Stay" that contains the lyric "And if you ask me, I will stay".[20]

Cyrus spoke about the song's lyrics to Zane Lowe on Apple Music where she stated that it also reflects being in quarantine: "I mean, in a way... I feel too, I mean, we're just trapped in our emotions right now. I mean, really me, there's no escaping it. It's like, 'Locked up, can't get you off my mind.' Anything that you've tried to suppress or compartmentalize at that point, it's coming up. It's yours to own, to own it or release it."[11]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
NME	[14]

Ali Shutler of NME gave the song five out of five stars, calling it "a disco-punk anthem that goes off like a cherry bomb", stating that it "hit[s] the sour-sweet spot between grit and glam" and described Lipa as "the perfect partner in crime for [Cyrus], as they take the basement snarl of punk and give it some '80s disco swagger". Shutler also remarked that "the track gives [Lipa]'s excitably shiny Future Nostalgia space to shine without forcing [Cyrus] out of the spotlight", further praising the artists for "elevat[ing] each other rather than competing" and added: "If only every collaboration had this balance."[18] Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone wrote that "'Prisoner' perfectly splits the difference between Dua Lipa's neo-disco pop and the late-Seventies/early-Eighties rock vibe that's defined Cyrus' Plastic Hearts era".[21] The New York Times' team of music critics ranked "Prisoner" as the most notable song of the week in their weekly updated column "The Playlist", where Lindsay Zoladz called the track "truly outrageous" and stated that Cyrus and Lipa "make a harmonious pair".[22]

Eli Enis from Consequence of Sound said that "the two stars exude a natural chemistry on 'Prisoner'" even though "the pairing is a little bit unusual on paper".[23] Mike Wass of Idolator remarked that Cyrus' previous single "'Midnight Sky' set the bar exceedingly high, but Miley Cyrus proves that lightning (or pop genius) can strike twice with 'Prisoner'", pointed the inspiration by "the unique fusion of pop, dance and rock that briefly occurred in the early 1980s" in Cyrus' Plastic Hearts era and stated that "there are elements of all three genres in 'Prisoner' which wouldn't sound out of place sandwiched between Pat Benatar and Blondie on '80s playlist".[24] Justin Curto from Vulture praised the song saying "their team-up on Cyrus's new song 'Prisoner' a match made in '70s heaven".[25] Erica Gonzalez from Harper's Bazaar praised "Prisoner" calling it a "killer collaboration" and saying "the song itself also evokes a gritty, vintage feel", further noticing "the hook is even reminiscent of Olivia Newton John's 'Physical'".[26]

Cyrus performed "Prisoner" first time without Dua Lipa on the first episode of the Amazon Music Holiday Plays digital concert series on December 1.[37] Later she performed on The Howard Stern Show.[38] She again performed "Prisoner" at Jimmy Kimmel Live! on December 7.[39] Cyrus performed "Prisoner" on the newest episode of the YouTube series "Released" on December 10[40] Cyrus again performed "Prisoner" along with along with "Party in the U.S.A." and "Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix)" on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest in Times Square on December 31.[41] Cyrus again performed "Prisoner" along with "Golden G String" and cover of Fade Into You by Mazzy Star on Tiny Desk Concert hosted by NPR Music on January 28, 2021.[42]

• Digital download and streaming[43]

1. Prisoner (featuring Dua Lipa) – 2:49

• Digital download and streaming – Jax Jones Remix[44]

1. Prisoner (Jax Jones Remix featuring Dua Lipa) – 3:46

Credits adapted from Tidal.[43]

• Audio on YouTube
• Lyrics on FarsSong