It was released as Piper's final single in December 2000 following her decision to retire from the music industry.

reviewer Jackie Flynn wrote that she had heard the song "a hundred times before" and compared it to "Mama" by Kim Appleby.

[3] Peter Robinson of NME wrote that "Walk of Life" "sounds nice", but "lacks the excitement" of previous singles.

[4] "Walk of Life" was released in the United Kingdom on 11 December 2000 as a CD and cassette single.

[8] It failed to chart in Australia and New Zealand despite the previous single, "Something Deep Inside", reaching the top 20.