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.

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.

[10] 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.

Pretty Vacant was rerecorded for the in-game soundtrack for the 2007 skateboarding videogame Skate,[13] and was included in 2008 rhythm game Guitar Hero: World Tour.

An Irish-language version of the song, entitled "Folamh go Deas" (a literal translation), was also performed by Irish band Na Magairlí in 1981.

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.

Kathy Hampson's Free Elastic Band feature a slow acoustic folk-music style version in their live shows.

[citation needed] Producer Mike Thorne who was involved in the first recordings of the Sex Pistols[16] made his own version of "Pretty Vacant" on his album Sprawl in 2005, with vocals by Lene Lovich.