This song is meant as a dénouement to the album. The story ends with "The Trial", in which a "judge" decrees, "Tear down the wall!". An explosion is heard to signify the wall's destruction, and "Outside the Wall" quietly begins. It is not explicitly stated what happens to Pink, the protagonist, after the dismantling of his psychological "wall". At the end, the song cuts off abruptly, as the man says "Isn't this where...", leading into the voice clip at the beginning of "In the Flesh?" that states "...we came in?", giving a sort of circularity to the album.
Composition
The song is the quietest on the album. It is a diatonic song in C Major, in 3/4 and is 1:41 in length. In the original demo version of this song, a harmonica was used in place of the clarinet heard on the album version.
Plot
Unlike the other songs on the album, this particular song offers little to the plot involving Pink as a whole. It notes that "the ones who really love you" are standing outside the wall and warns that, if you do not tear down your metaphorical wall, some might eventually give up on you and leave you to live out a lonely life instead of "banging heart against some mad bugger's wall". This is what happens to the main character, Pink, during the course of the album. Roger Waters himself has refused to provide any explanation when asked for one.
Film version
A longer and more elaborate version was recorded for the film which runs for a little more than four minutes and includes the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pontarddulais Male Choir and Waters singing the lyrics melodically, rather than reciting them as on the album version. Helping extend the song through the entire end credits is an instrumental bridge, composed of the chords and melody from "Southampton Dock", from The Wall's eventual successor, The Final Cut. This version was never released officially, but was later reused for the credits for The Wall – Live in Berlin. It is in E-flat major rather than C, while "Southampton Dock" would be finalized in F major.
Stage performance
The stage performances of The Wall ended with "Outside the Wall" after "The Trial", where the performers came walking over the stage in front of the now demolished wall, playing acoustic instruments and singing the vocal tracks. Waters played clarinet, and recited the lyrics, while the backing singers sang the lyrics in harmony. David Gilmour played mandolin, Richard Wright played accordion, Willie Wilson played tambourine, Andy Bown played 12-string acoustic guitar, and Snowy White, Peter Wood and Nick Mason played 6-string acoustic guitars. A similar format was used for the track during Waters' 2010-2013 tour, The Wall Live, including the appearance of Gilmour playing the mandolin and Mason playing a tambourine.
