It Must Be Love

Album

Single

Label

Stiff Records

Genre

Reggae

Composer(s)

Labi Siffre

Entered Chart

Aug 20, 1983

Peak Date

Oct 8, 1983

Released

5 November 1981

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Geffen 7-29562

B-Side

Calling Cards

This was written by Labi Siffre, whose original version reached #14 in the UK in 1971. Madness' backing track was recorded in nine hours in a front room studio in a house in Dagenham, Essex. The duo of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley produced this track. Langer recalled the bold use of strings on this track in an article by Eric Olsen of Blogcritics Magazine: "We had the strings play pizzicato: 'plink, plink, plink,' which at that time required real musicians. It was quite an experiment and you took a lot of responsibility because you had to pay the bill. Now you can just use a sample." Winstanley added: "A few years later Trevor Horn told me that he nicked the pizzicato strings idea from us for the first ABC record - that was quite flattering really." In 1992 this was re-issued and again it reached the UK Top 10 this time peaking at #6. In America this was the follow-up to the band's only Top 10 hit, "Our House." However the Ealing Comedy-influenced music video for this song, which featured the band all running around in undertaker's gear, was not appreciated across the Atlantic and this song only reached #33. Report this ad The video also featured underwater performances from guitarist Chris Foreman and saxophonist Lee Thompson. Foreman recalled to Q Magazine August 2008: "In the pool, I had these lead weights on. I thought I was gonna die. The hire guitar got bent so we got a hairdryer and sent it back. They said, 'The neck's like a banana.' So we had to buy it." Labi Siffre made a cameo appearance in the video as a violin player. This featured in the 1989 film The Tall Guy.

I never thought I'd miss you
Half as much as I do
And I never thought I'd feel this way
The way I feel
About you
As soon as I wake up
Every night, every day
I know that it's you I need
To take the blues away

It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
Nothing more, nothing less
Love is the best

How can it be that we can
Say so much without words?
Bless you and bless me
Bless the bees
And the birds
I've got to be near you
Every night, every day
I couldn't be happy
Any other way

It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
Nothing more, nothing less
Love is the best

As soon as I wake up
Every night, every day
I know that it's you I need
To take the blues away

It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love
It must be love, love, love