According to bassist
Glen Matlock, the song's main riff was inspired by hearing
"SOS" by
ABBA. A reversed variant of this riff can be heard in "
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. In an interview for the June 2022 issue of
Uncut, Matlock said that ”'Pretty Vacant', which is my song and my lyrics, I took inspiration from
Richard Hell's '
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
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") 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==