Stand Inside Your Love

"Stand Inside Your Love" was the second single and lead international single from The Smashing Pumpkins' fifth studio album, Machina/The Machines of God (2000). The song was written by Billy Corgan.

The artwork is by Russian painter Vasily Kafanov, who also did the artwork for most of the Machina album and the "Heavy Metal Machine" promotional single.

Content
Billy Corgan said the song was dedicated to his then-girlfriend Yelena Yemchuk. He explained, "'Stand Inside Your Love' is one of those rare songs that seems to write itself really quickly... As far as the song goes, it's sort of a love song that rocks, which is pretty rare, even for me. And I even got my girlfriend dancing in the video, so it's all a tribute to my girlfriend, I guess." At the VH1 Storytellers, Corgan would call it the only "true" love song he's ever written, adding that the lyrics began with the line "Who wouldn't stand inside your love?" and in a "stream of consciousness" he wrote the remaining lyrics in about 10 minutes.

"Stand Inside Your Love" was initially conceived to be similar to the new wave style of the band's earlier hit "1979"; however, Corgan opted for what he considered "the classic Pumpkins sound […] in the sense that it sounds like it could come from any album".

The single contains one B-side, "Speed Kills", which appears in a shortened form on the vinyl and import CD versions of Machina, and in a heavier incarnation on the band's following album Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music.

The single cover of "Stand Inside Your Love" was designed by Vasily Kafanov and is primarily a depiction of the alchemical androgyne, one of the most significant symbolic representations within alchemy, and, on its most basic level, represents the perfect union between man and woman when joined as a single entity. Atop their head is a single crown, known to the Kabbalists as Kether, the source of all creation, and the first Sephiroth on the Tree of Life.

Equipment
James Iha used an E-bow, an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone and a Boss Digital Delay for the guitar solo.

Music video
The music video of "Stand Inside Your Love" is a tribute to the play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Billy Corgan created the video's look together with English director W.I.Z. under the heavy influence of original Salomé illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. The nipple-rubbing fat man sitting on the throne is played by Ken Davitian, better known for his role as Azamat Bagatov in the movie Borat. Corgan's then-girlfriend Yelena Yemchuk played the main character in the video. The video was filmed in Santa Clara, California in December 1999.

Director W.I.Z. said of the video and working with Corgan: "Billy has this great poetic ability to sort of shed light on the tragedies of existence. He seems to be someone who's trying to recondition the heart, to reconfigure tragedy as something we need to embrace and elevate as a proof-positive of life." He added that "The Smashing Pumpkins have a great sophistication and cinematic literacy and sense of style. It was a very rewarding experience working with them."

Sharon Osbourne cited her dislike for the music video, along with her conflicts with Corgan, as a motive for her departure from the band's management. The music video won the Most Visionary Video award at the 2000 VH1 Fashion Awards.

Track listing
All songs written by Billy Corgan.

Release history
While "The Everlasting Gaze" was the lead single in the United States from Machina, with a radio promotional single released, and a high-energy music video filmed with new band member Melissa Auf der Maur, "Stand Inside Your Love" was ultimately released as the lead international single.