This Smashing Pumpkins Track May Be One of Billy Corgan’s Best Songs

Perhaps you gave up on The Smashing Pumpkins because the sheer density of Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness was too much to bear. To that I say, the density of Mellon Collie is very much worth bearing. Or, you may have bowed out after Mellon Collie because alt-rock had reached its cultural peak and you moved on. I judge no one. But I’d like to politely nudge you toward a Smashing Pumpkins track you might have missed. It’s one of Billy Corgan’s best songs.

“Stand Inside Your Love”

In 1999, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin returned to the band for a short tour. However, the reunion was short-lived as bassist D’arcy Wretzky exited while recording Machina/The Machines of God. Released in 2000, the band’s fifth studio album would also precede their breakup.

Machina was also overlooked as culture became consumed by glossy pop and nu metal. But one track in particular remains one of Corgan’s finest: “Stand Inside Your Love”. It was written quickly, and for anyone feeling nostalgic about Siamese Dream, this is your song.

But for the last time,
You’re everything.
That I want and asked for,
You’re all that I dream.

Though Corgan is the band’s primary songwriter, Chamberlin’s presence shows just how crucial he is to the Pumpkins’ sound. Here, one of Corgan’s finest choruses is propelled by furious fills that at once echo the fragility of relationships.

Who wouldn’t be the one you love?
Who wouldn’t stand inside your love?
Protected and the lover of.

The Slow Demise of a Great Band

The Smashing Pumpkins had been slowly falling apart, it seems, since before Chamberlin’s absence during the Adore era. But Corgan kept things going. Then he brought back his anchor and delivered a Smashing Pumpkins classic.

Don’t understand,
Don’t feel me now,
I will breathe for the both of us.
Travel the world,
Traverse the skies.
Your home is here within my heart.

Since resurrecting The Smashing Pumpkins in 2005, Corgan has presented his band in various iterations. Guitarist James Iha returned in 2018 and, with Chamberlin, a new generation now gets to experience the Chicago legends with enough muscle to match Corgan’s infinitely ambitious melancholy.

Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for iHeartRadio