“Stand Inside Your Love”: One of Billy Corgan’s Only Love Songs

One of Billy Corgan’s only love songs arrived while The Smashing Pumpkins were falling apart.

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Surrounded by tumult, Corgan wrote one of the most emotional songs of his career. And that’s saying something for a catalog that includes “Disarm”, “Today”, and “1979”.

The Meaning Behind “Stand Inside Your Love” by Billy Corgan/The Smashing Pumpkins

In 2000, Corgan appeared on VH1 Storytellers and explained how “Stand Inside Your Love” sounded like it could have been on any Smashing Pumpkins album.

He wrote the music quickly but didn’t have lyrics or a vocal melody. While reading a book, he came across the words: “Who wouldn’t stand inside your love?”

Though Corgan didn’t initially understand what it meant, it opened a flood of creativity. He said he suddenly saw the entire song in front of him: “The lyrics were written in ten minutes, and I still have the sheet of paper. Not one word is different.”

Many of Corgan’s biggest hits are exercises in angst. The most famous example remains “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and its iconic hook: “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.”

However, “Stand Inside Your Love” is different. Sonically, it stands apart from the assault of Corgan’s wall of guitars on Machina/The Machines Of God. The track is heartbreaking and utterly gorgeous. It’s a direct and vulnerable love song.

“To talk about what this song is about, it’s probably one of the only love songs I’ve written,” Corgan said. “I dedicate it to my friend and partner, Yelena.”

The End of The Smashing Pumpkins, Chapter 1

Following the colossal success of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, the band struggled with personal problems and addiction. Corgan fired drummer Jimmy Chamberlin after multiple overdoses and The Smashing Pumpkins returned in fragmented form with the 1998 electronic album Adore.

It divided fans then. But Corgan’s reinvention led to beloved tracks like  “Ava Adore” and “Perfect”.

Chamberlin was invited back for the recording of the follow-up Machina/The Machines Of God. And Corgan had returned with a full-on heavy metal album, though the reunion of the original lineup was short-lived. Longtime bassist D’arcy Wretzky was out and replaced by Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.

Corgan knew his band was disintegrating. Chamberlin’s return marked one last gasp before the Chicago group broke up in 2000.

The Smashing Pumpkins reformed in 2005 and have since existed with a revolving lineup. Chamberlin and guitarist James Iha reunited with Corgan in 2018.

Infinite Sadness

You can read “Stand Inside Your Love” within a larger context. Imagine the chaos surrounding one of the biggest rock bands of the time. Addiction, losing bandmates, and losing friends to young deaths. (Keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin died from a heroin overdose in 1996.)

With everything around you falling apart, the line Corgan originally found inside a book takes on a more profound meaning. His partner at the time may have been the only thing stable in his life.

“Who wouldn’t stand inside your love?”

Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns