It Must Have Been Love
| "It Must Have Been Love" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Roxette | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Pretty Woman Soundtrack | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | July 1, 1987 May 1, 1990 September 1, 1993 |
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| Recorded | 1987—1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Pop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Per Gessle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Certification | Gold: USA, Germany, NZ, Sweden, Austria Silver: UK |
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| Roxette singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For the song of the same name by the melodic rock band Magnum, please see the Wings of Heaven album.
"It Must Have Been Love" is a power ballad written by Per Gessle and performed by the Swedish pop duo Roxette. The ballad became the duo's third #1 hit in the United States,[1] and is one of their best-selling releases, leading the single to be certified gold in a number of countries.
The song was included on the soundtrack to the popular film Pretty Woman In 2005, Per Gessle received an award from BMI after the song's four millionth radio play.[2]
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"It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)" (1987) [edit]
"It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)", the song's original title,[3] was first released in 1987 after EMI Germany asked Roxette to come up with an intelligent Christmas-single.[3] It went on to become a Top 10 hit in Sweden but EMI Germany decided not to the release the track.[3]
This version of the song was not part of any Roxette album until the 1997 re-release of Pearls of Passion, where it was included as a bonus track. The B-side to "Christmas for the Broken Hearted", "Turn to Me", also featured as a bonus track.
Track listing [edit]
Side A: "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)"
Side B: "Turn to Me"
Pretty Woman movie soundtrack (1990) [edit]
During the run of chart-topping singles from Look Sharp! Touchstone Pictures approached Roxette's record label, EMI, and the group about contributing a song to the soundtrack of the upcoming romantic comedy release Pretty Woman, starring Richard Gere and Oscar nominee Julia Roberts. Pretty Woman was released in March 1990 and went on to make more than $460 million worldwide.[4]
Gessle has claimed that "It Must Have Been Love", by then a two-year-old recording, was chosen because Roxette did not have time to compose and record a new song while touring Australia and New Zealand. Gessle and producer Clarence Öfwerman took the original 1987 recording, had Marie Fredriksson replace a single Christmas-referenced line in the song and added some instrumentation and background vocal overlays to enhance the sound. Gessle claimed the soundtrack producers initially turned down "It Must Have Been Love" but changed their minds after re-editing the film.[citation needed]
Although "It Must Have Been Love" was part of the Pretty Woman soundtrack, the song was not part of a Roxette album until Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!, their 1995 greatest hits release. The album was not released in the United States until September 26, 2000, with a different track listing.[original research?]
Chart success [edit]
Though the lyrics refer to a lonely winter's day after the break-up of a relationship, "It Must Have Been Love" became an international hit in the summer of 1990. It was not the first single released from the Pretty Woman soundtrack but "It Must Have Been Love" became the most successful, spending its first of two weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 in June and onto sales of 500,000 copies in the U.S.[5] Billboard magazine listed "It Must Have Been Love" as the #2 Hot 100 single of the year behind Wilson Phillips' "Hold On".[6] The single was released in the UK in June 1990 and peaked at #3, Roxette's best showing there, and stayed in the UK Singles Chart for 14 weeks. The song was re-released in September 1993 and peaked at #10. It was due to the success of this song that "Listen to Your Heart" and "Dressed for Success" were re-issued in the UK later that year. It later became Roxette's second of three #1 singles in Australia, spending two weeks at the top spot in July 1990, while it also peaked at #1 in Norway, for 12 weeks, and in Switzerland. It also reached the Top 5 in Sweden, Austria and Germany, where the single spent 9 months in the Top 75, while it reached the Top 20 in Italy.
In the CD liner notes for Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!, Fredriksson remarked, "Our third #1 in the U.S. ...not bad for a song that was lying around, gathering dust."[3] The soundtrack went on to be certified three times platinum by the RIAA,[7] with total Worldwide sales of nine million.[3][8] While the song went on to receive gold certification in the Austria, Germany, United States,[5] Sweden and New Zealand.
Music video [edit]
The video was shot in a warehouse, with Fredriksson singing and Gessle playing the guitar between various prop changes. It included scenes from the Pretty Woman movie (Marie Fredriksson wearing a white dress in this movie version). There is also an alternate version of the video without the movie scenes, available solely on the VHS The Videos. According to Fredriksson, shooting the video was a surreal experience.
... the video was a weird experience. The director wanted all movements in slow motion so I had to lip sync the vocals in double speed. My first lesson in how to sing an emotional ballad Mickey Mouse style. A strange way to make a living.
Track listing [edit]
- "It Must Have Been Love"
- "Paint"
Charts and certifications [edit]
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Sales and certifications [edit]
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Alternative versions [edit]
A revised version of the song was recorded in a Los Angeles studio during Roxette's 1991 worldwide tour in support of the album Joyride. This slower country music-esque version, featuring a steel guitar solo in place of the original's piano, was included in the 1992 album release from that tour, Tourism: Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places.
A re-issue of the 1990 version of the song entered the UK Top 10 in September 1993 after Pretty Woman was first shown on UK terrestrial TV.
On the 1996 album Baladas En Español, Roxette recorded new Spanish vocals and remixed the backing track; the result "No sé si es amor" ("I don't know if it's love"), reached #6 in Spain.
Roxette's 2012 album, "Travelling" has a newly recorded studio version.
Cover versions [edit]
När kärleken föds [edit]
In 2006, the Swedish pop singer Shirley Clamp recorded a Swedish language cover version of "It Must Have Been Love" called "När kärleken föds" ("When Love is Born") that was released as a single in April of that year and peaked at #6 at the Swedish singles chart. On 11 June 2006, "När kärleken föds" entered eighth place on Svensktoppen. "När kärleken föds" had no words related to Christmas or other seasons or holidays.
Tracklisting [edit]
- "När kärleken föds" - 5:08
- "Öppna din dörr" - 4:12
Other cover versions [edit]
- The Chipettes covered the song for the 1991 album The Chipmunks Rock the House.
- Mexican singer Rocío Banquells recorded her own acoustic version for her 1991 album Escucha el infinito.
- Shirley Bassey covered this song on her 1995 album Sings the Movies.
- Punk rock band Polly Esther included a cover of the song on their 2002 album Standstill.
- A cover of the song by British eurotrance group Friday Night Posse (a.k.a. Dancing DJs) featuring Soraya was released in 2004.
- Greek indie act My Wet Calvin included a cover version of the song as a hidden track on their promo single "My Greatest Hits", January 2005.
- A Hi-NRG cover by Digital Bitch featuring Sandra O was released in 2005 and included on the compilation Remixland X-Mas 2005.
- British pop duo Journey South made an acoustic version of "It Must Have Been Love" on their self-titled 2006 album.
- The song was covered in Spanish by Australian band Aleks and The Ramps on their album Pisces Vs Aquarius.
- German indie singer Get Well Soon covered this song in 2008.
- Norwegian singer-songwriter Maria Mena covered this song in 2008 and was released as a Bonus Track via iTunes UK for her fourth studio album Cause and Effect.
- Canadian singer Kathleen Edwards released a haunting version as an iTunes and Amazon.com single in February 2013.
Live cover performances [edit]
- Danish singer Sanne Salomonsen has performed the song in various live performances over the years.
- Bad Lashes (X Factor UK 2008 finalist) covered the song in the first live show.
References [edit]
- ^ a b "Roxette's Billboard Hot 100 chart history". www.billboard.com.
- ^ "2005 BMI awards.". www.bmi.com.
- ^ a b c d e f "Greatest hits album notes". www.pergessle.net.
- ^ "Box Office Mojo's page on Pretty Woman". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ a b "Roxette's RIAA single & album certifications". www.riaa.com.
- ^ "Billboard's 1990 year end chart.". www.billboard.com.
- ^ "Pretty Woman's soundtrack RIAA multi platinum award". www.riaa.com. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ "Roxette's biography". www.sonofaplumber.com/www.roxette.se.
- ^ "Swedish singles chart". swedishcharts.com.
- ^ a b "UK Chart Stats". chartstats.com.
- ^ "Roxette's Billboard AC chart history". www.billboard.com.
- ^ "German Album Chart". charts-surfer.
- ^ "Australian Singles Chart". australian-charts.com.
- ^ "Austrian Singles Chart". austriancharts.com.
- ^ "Polish Singles Chart |".
- ^ "Swiss Singles Chart". swisscharts.com.
- ^ "Norwegian Singles Chart". norwegiancharts.com.
- ^ "Irish Singles Chart". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
- ^ http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-50-singles-1990.htm
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ "ARIA Accreditations (1987-2010)". Australian Fun Countdowns. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
- ^ "Austrian single certifications – Roxette – It Must Have Been Love" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 20 April 2012. Enter Roxette in the field Interpret. Enter It Must Have Been Love in the field Titel. Select single in the field Format. Click Suchen
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Roxette; 'It Must Have Been Love')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ "British single certifications – Roxette – It Must Have Been Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 20 April 2012. Enter It Must Have Been Love in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Click Go
- ^ "American single certifications – Roxette – It Must Have Been Love". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 20 April 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
| Preceded by "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single June 16, 1990- June 23, 1990 |
Succeeded by "Step by Step" by New Kids on the Block |
| Preceded by "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" by Heart |
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number one single July 7–21, 1990 |
Succeeded by "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer |
| Preceded by "Verdammt, ich lieb' dich" by Matthias Reim |
Swiss number-one single 7 October 1990 - 20 October 1990 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Tom's Diner" by DNA featuring Suzanne Vega |
| Preceded by "Tom's Diner" by DNA featuring Suzanne Vega |
Swiss number-one single 28 October 1990 - 3 November 1990 (top again, 1 week) |
Succeeded by "I've Been Thinking About You" by Londonbeat |
External links [edit]
- "It Must Have Been Love" music video (YouTube, EMIMUSIC)
- Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
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- Singles certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry of Austria
- Singles certified gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie
- Singles certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry of Sweden
- Singles certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry
- Singles certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America
- 1987 singles
- 1990 singles
- 1993 singles
- 2006 singles
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Roxette songs
- Shirley Clamp songs
- Number-one singles in Australia
- Number-one singles in Norway
- Number-one singles in Switzerland
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- Songs written by Per Gessle
- Pop ballads
- Rock ballads
- Christmas songs
