Editing Pretty Vacant

{{Short description|1977 single by the Sex Pistols}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Pretty Vacant
| cover         = Pretty Vacant.jpg
| alt           = 
| type          = single
| artist        = [[Sex Pistols]]
| album         = [[Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]]
| B-side        = No Fun
| released      = 1 July 1977<br/>15 October 2007 (30th anniversary re-issue)
| recorded      = February 1977
| studio        = [[Wessex Sound Studios|Wessex]], London<ref>{{cite web |title=STUDIO RECORDING SESSIONS The Complete Guide Part Two: 1977 |url=http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/pistols_recording_sessions_1977.html |website=philjens.plus.com |date=2013 |access-date=10 April 2020}}</ref>
| venue         = 
| genre         = [[Punk rock]]
| length        = 3:18
| label         = [[Virgin Records|Virgin]] (UK)
| writer        = [[Paul Cook]], [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]], [[John Lydon]], [[Glen Matlock]]
| producer      = [[Chris Thomas (record producer)|Chris Thomas]], Bill Price<br>[[Dave Goodman (record producer)|Dave Goodman]] (demos)
| prev_title    = [[God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)|God Save the Queen]]
| prev_year     = 1977
| next_title    = [[Holidays in the Sun (song)|Holidays in the Sun]]
| next_year     = 1977
| misc          = {{External music video |{{YouTube|R6GDdKrQ8EI|"Pretty Vacant"}}}}
}}
"'''Pretty Vacant'''" is a song by the English [[punk rock]] band the [[Sex Pistols]]. It was released on 1 July 1977 as the band's third single and was later featured on their only album, ''[[Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]]'', released during that same year.

Vocalist [[John Lydon]]'s phrasing of the word "vacant", by emphasising its last syllable to sound like the vulgar word ''[[cunt]]'', has given the song a controversial reputation.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Lydon with Keith and Kent Zimmerman|title=[[Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs]]|publisher= Hodder and Stoughton|year= 1994 |ISBN=978-0-340-61019-0|page=272}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Jon|last= Savage|title=England's Dreaming. Sex Pistols and Punk Rock|publisher= London, Faber and Faber|year= 1991|ISBN=0-571-16791-8|page= 378}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/sex-pistols-turned-down-olympics-performance-because-organisers-wanted-to-censor-songs-7657847.html|title=Sex Pistols turned down Olympics performance because organisers wanted to censor songs|newspaper=The Independent|date=21 June 2023|accessdate=28 March 2025}}</ref>

== Composition ==
According to bassist [[Glen Matlock]], the song's main riff was inspired by hearing [[SOS (ABBA song)|"SOS"]] by [[ABBA]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matlock |first1=Glen |title=I was a teenage Sex Pistol |last2=Silverton |first2=Pete |date=1990 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=0-7119-2491-0 |location=London |page=90f |author-link=Glen Matlock}}</ref> A reversed variant of this riff can be heard in "[[I'm So Bored with the USA|I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.]]" by [[The Clash]], recorded one month later but released three months earlier than the Sex Pistols record. The B-side of the single was a cover of [[the Stooges]]' "No Fun", which the band played on the spot without a proper rehearsal. It was taken from demo sessions recorded by producer [[Dave Goodman (record producer)|Dave Goodman]]. In an interview for the June 2022 issue of [[Uncut (magazine)|''Uncut'']], Matlock said that ”Pretty Vacant, which is my song and my lyrics, I took inspiration from [[Richard Hell and the Voidoids|Richard Hell]]’s [[Blank Generation (song)|Blank Generation]]. But I kind of misunderstood what his song was all about. You gotta put the songs in the context of what was going on for a bloke like me in mid-70s London, with the three-day week and the [[Birmingham pub bombings|IRA bombings]] and power cuts, against the fact I was a young man who met some interesting people who was trying to form a rock’n’roll band. Pretty Vacant is a primal scream kind of thing: we don’t know what we’re gonna do, but we’re gonna do it anyway.”

The band made a video for "Pretty Vacant" (as well as one for "[[God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)|God Save the Queen]]") on 11 and 12 July 1977 at the studios of [[ITN]] in [[Wells Street]], [[London]]. They were thrown out after throwing cans of [[lager]] at the cameramen on the 11th, but came back on the 12th to finish the recording.

==Charts==
The song reached No. 6 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] and marked the band's first appearance on the British chart music TV programme  ''[[Top of the Pops]]''. The song gained attention for vocalist [[John Lydon]]'s phrasing of the word "vacant", emphasising the last syllable to sound like the vulgar word ''[[cunt]]''.<ref>John Lydon with Keith and Kent Zimmerman, ''[[Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs]]'', Hodder and Stoughton, 1994 {{ISBN|978-0-340-61019-0}}, p. 272f.</ref><ref>Jon Savage, ''England's Dreaming. Sex Pistols and Punk Rock''. London, Faber and Faber, 1991 {{ISBN|0-571-16791-8}}, p. 378.</ref> 
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (1977)
!Peak<br />position
|-
| align="left"|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=269}}</ref>
| align="center"|52
|-
{{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|6|artist=Sex Pistols}}
|}

==Certifications==
{{certification Table Top}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=single|region=United Kingdom|artist=Sex Pistols|title=Pretty Vacant|award=Silver|certyear=1980|relyear=1977|access-date=16 June 2022|id=5209-779-1}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

== Reception ==
''[[NME]]'' magazine made it their Single of the Year in 1977.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 May 1992 |title=Rocklist.net...NME End Of Year Lists 1977 |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/1977.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630053043/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/1977.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=30 June 2012 |access-date=12 October 2016 |website=Rocklistmusic.co.uk}}</ref>

In March 2005, ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' magazine placed the song 26th in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. ''NME'' named it the 132nd-greatest song of all time in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rocklist.net NME The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.. 2014 |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_500_greatest_songs_2014.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140325220723/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_500_greatest_songs_2014.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=25 March 2014 |access-date=12 October 2016 |website=Rocklistmusic.co.uk}}</ref>  ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' said that the lyrics are milder than some of the group's other songs, "the intense energy level never falters" but that the "bombastic guitar riffs" make the lyrics difficult to hear.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 January 1978 |title=Top Single Hits |page=107 |newspaper=Billboard |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1978/Billboard%201978-01-28.pdf |access-date=2020-07-10}}</ref>

''[[Cash Box]]'' said of the single edit that "Rotten's vocals are rhythmic, double-edged and snarling but also cleaned up for airplay" and that it "is a straight forward rocker with upfront drumming, slashing guitar licks and a brash attitude."<ref name="cb">{{cite news |date=January 21, 1978 |title=CashBox Singles Reviews |page=20 |newspaper=Cash Box |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1978/CB-1978-01-21.pdf |accessdate=2021-12-26}}</ref>  ''[[Record World]]'' called it "great rock 'n' roll."<ref name=rw>{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=January 28, 1978|accessdate=2023-02-15|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/78/RW-1978-01-22.pdf}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
A live version of the track from ''[[Filthy Lucre Live]]'' was released as a single in 1996, and a 7-inch [[picture disc]] was released in 2012.

Pretty Vacant was rerecorded for the in-game soundtrack for the 2007 skateboarding videogame [[Skate (2007 video game)|Skate]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sex Pistols Reunite to Not Sell Out for Guitar Hero 3 |url=https://www.shacknews.com/article/49136/sex-pistols-reunite-to-not |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=Shacknews |date=25 September 2007 |language=en}}</ref> and was included in 2008 rhythm game [[Guitar Hero World Tour|Guitar Hero: World Tour]].

==Covers and samples==
"Pretty Vacant" was covered by [[Paul Jones (singer)|Paul Jones]] in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|title=Discogs entry for Paul Jones cover|date=22 April 1978 |url=http://www.discogs.com/Paul-Jones-Pretty-Vacant/release/1794954|publisher=Discogs|access-date=23 September 2013}}</ref> [[Joan Jett]] released a cover version on single, and [[Joey Ramone]] used the lead riff in his cover of "[[What a Wonderful World]]".{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} This opening riff has been used as a punk trope on several songs of the genre, for instance in [[Eskorbuto]]'s "Eskizofrenia" (1984).

The song was used in the 1981 film ''[[American Pop]]''. An [[Irish language|Irish-language]] version of the song, entitled "Folamh go Deas" (a literal translation), was also performed by Irish band Na Magairlí in 1981. In 1996 Black Grape released a cover version (very similar to the original) on their single "Fat Neck". South African pop group Shikisha also released a cover version of the song in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://womad.org/?artist_id=1569 |title=World of Music, Arts & Dance |website=Womad.org |access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref>

The group [[the Ukrainians]] perform a [[Ukrainian language]] version of the song on their EP ''Anarchy in the UK'' and album ''[[Respublika (album)|Respublika]]''. The French band [[Les Négresses Vertes]], as well as grime MC [[Lady Sovereign]], have both covered "Pretty Vacant" and performed live versions of the song. Lady Sovereign's version is featured in the popular TV show, ''[[The O.C.]]'' and the cover version is featured on one of the six ''The O.C.'' soundtracks called ''[[Music on The O.C.|Music from The O.C.: Mix 6 – Covering Our Tracks]]''. [[Charlestown (Manning album)|Kathy Hampson]]'s Free Elastic Band feature a slow acoustic folk-music style version in their live shows.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Producer [[Mike Thorne]] who was involved in the first recordings of the Sex Pistols<ref>{{Cite web |title=God Save The Sex Pistols - Mike Thorne Interview 2002 |url=http://www.philjens.plus.com/pistols/pistols/pistols_mike_thorne.htm |access-date=2023-11-14 |website=www.philjens.plus.com}}</ref> made his own version of "Pretty Vacant" on his album ''Sprawl'' in 2005, with vocals by [[Lene Lovich]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Thorne - Sprawl |date=2005 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3985410-Thorne-Sprawl |access-date=2023-11-14 |language=en}}</ref>

The song is also the opening theme for the Canadian short-lived comedy sketch show [[The Vacant Lot]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

==Books==
* Matlock, Glen with Silverton, Pete (1990). ''I was a teenage Sex Pistol''. Omnibus Press {{ISBN|0-7119-2491-0}}
* Lydon, John (1993). ''[[Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs]]''. Hodder & Stoughton {{ISBN|978-0-85-965341-1}}
* Lydon, John (2014). ''Anger Is an Energy: My Life Uncensored''. Simon & Schuster {{ISBN|978-1-47-113719-8}}
* Sex Pistols (2017). ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, 1977: The Bollocks Diaries''. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd {{ISBN| 978-1788400275}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sex Pistols}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1977 singles]]
[[Category:Sex Pistols songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Paul Cook]]
[[Category:Songs written by Steve Jones (musician)]]
[[Category:Songs written by Glen Matlock]]
[[Category:Songs written by John Lydon]]
[[Category:Live singles]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)]]
[[Category:1977 songs]]
[[Category:Virgin Records singles]]