"Pretty Vacant" is a song by the English punk rock band The Sex Pistols. It was released on 1 July 1977 as the third single and was later featured on their only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, released that same year. The song marked the band's (then) only appearance on the British music show Top of the Pops, until 1996 when the original line-up performed the song (after the live version was released that year) as well as "New York" on the same showing. The song is infamous for vocalist John Lydon's phrasing of the word "vacant", emphasising the last syllable making it sound like the vulgar word "cunt". According to Glen Matlock the riff was inspired by "S.O.S." by ABBA after hearing it on the radio. The B-side is a cover of The Stooges' "No Fun" which they played on the spot without a proper rehearsal. No Fun was taken from demo sessions recorded by producer Dave Goodman.
NME magazine made it their Single of the Year in 1977. In March 2005, Q magazine placed the song at number 26 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
The album was reissued as a 2CD set in 1992. A live version of the track from Filthy Lucre Live was released as a single in 1996, and a 7" picture disc was released in 2012.
Read more about Pretty Vacant: Covers and Samples, In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words pretty and/or vacant:
“It’s pretty hard to change once you’ve burned away your youth and your illusions.”
—John Farrow. Captain (John Wayne)
“Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
Then have I reason to be fond of grief.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)