Peak
1
Weeks
25
Score
4,677
Chart Year
1990
A performance from a Swedish TV chart show in 1987 acted as the song's first music video. It features Fredriksson and Gessle sitting on a couch on a stage, lip-syncing to the song.
This breakup ballad was written by Roxette's instrumentalist, Per Gessle. Despite the somber lyric ("It must have been love, but it's over now"), the song proved very pleasing to the ear and became a huge hit. In a March 2011 interview with the London commuter freesheet Metro, Gessle was asked how many times Roxette had performed "It Must Have Been Love," to which he replied: "We've done it at every show, so it's been hundreds of times. We don't need to rehearse it, put it that way. It's the same with 'Listen To Your Heart' or 'The Look' – when you stand there in front of 10,000 who love it, it's an amazing feeling." Asked further, "Have you heard your songs in any unlikely places?," he said of the same song: "I was in Siberia the other day and heard a balalaikan version of 'It Must Have Been Love.'" Originally called "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted)," the song was released as a single backed by "Turn to Me." At the time, Roxette was doing promotion in Germany and was having a hard time getting on the radio because they fell between the Top 40 and rock formats. EMI's German division suggested the duo record a Christmas tune to try to get some airplay, so Gessle got to work writing a holiday ballad. It still didn't make German radio (at least not the original version; the re-release hit #4) but became a big hit in the duo's native Sweden in 1987. >> Recorded before Roxette started working on their Joyride album, "It Must Have Been Love" was reworked for the movie Pretty Woman, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The movie was an enormous hit, and so was the soundtrack, which also featured "King Of Wishful Thinking" by Go West. Released in March 1990, Pretty Woman developed a huge following, which helped send this song to the top of the US Hot 100 in June, where it stayed for two weeks. For the Pretty Woman version, Gessle kept most of Marie Fredrikkson's original vocals but cut out the Christmas sounds at the beginning of the song. He also changed the lyric "a hard Christmas day" to "a hard winter's day." According to Gessle, Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall loved the song so much he re-edited the movie so he could showcase it in a scene without dialogue. Still, Gessle, who had never had a song placed in a film before, was initially disappointed when only about a minute of it was used. He told Billboard he thought, "Everything is going to circle around my song." But there were no complaints when the movie and song became instant hits. "Nobody expected the movie to become such a smash and for us it was, of course, a jackpot," he told Songwriter Universe in 2018. This was used on the Canadian TV series Being Erica in the 2009 episode "Dr. Tom." It was also used in the 2013 Swedish film Hotel, starring Alicia Vikander, and the 2013 romantic comedy Austenland, starring Keri Russell.
But it's over now Lay a whisper on my pillow Leave the winter on the ground I wake up lonely, this air of silence In the bedroom and all around Touch me now I close my eyes And dream away It must have been love But it's over now It must have been good But I lost it somehow It must have been love But it's over now From the moment we touched 'Til the time had run out Make believing We're together That I'm sheltered By your heart But in and outside I turn to water Like a teardrop In your palm And it's a hard Winter's day I dream away It must have been love (it must have been love) But it's over now (but it's over now) It was all that I wanted Now I'm living without It must have been love But it's over now It's where the water flows It's where the wind blows It must have been love (it must have been love) But it's over now (but it's over now) It must have been good But I lost it somehow It must have been love (it must have been love) But it's over now (but it's over now) From the moment we touched 'Til the time had run out Yeah, It must have been love (it must have been love) But it's over now (but it's over now) It was all that I wanted Now I'm living without It must have been love But it's over now It's where the water flows It's where the wind blows Oh It must have been love But it's over now (but it's over now) Now Must have been love (it must have been love) But it's over now (but it's over now) Now
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 7, 1990 | 67 | 59 |
| 2 | Apr 14, 1990 | 49 | 77 |
| 3 | Apr 21, 1990 | 34 | 92 |
| 4 | Apr 28, 1990 | 29 | 97 |
| 5 | May 5, 1990 | 22 | 104 |
| 6 | May 12, 1990 | 16 | 110 |
| 7 | May 19, 1990 | 9 | 117 |
| 8 | May 26, 1990 | 8 | 118 |
| 9 | Jun 2, 1990 | 6 | 120 |
| 10 | Jun 9, 1990 | 5 | 121 |
| 11 | Jun 16, 1990 | 1 | 125 |
| 12 | Jun 23, 1990 | 1 | 125 |
| 13 | Jun 30, 1990 | 2 | 124 |
| 14 | Jul 7, 1990 | 2 | 124 |
| 15 | Jul 14, 1990 | 6 | 120 |
| 16 | Jul 21, 1990 | 11 | 115 |
| 17 | Jul 28, 1990 | 17 | 109 |
| 18 | Aug 4, 1990 | 26 | 100 |
| 19 | Aug 11, 1990 | 33 | 93 |
| 20 | Aug 18, 1990 | 42 | 84 |