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.
Lyrics
(It must have been love but it's over now)
Lay a whisper on my pillow
Leave the winter on the ground
I wake up lonely, there's 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've turned to water
Like a teardrop in your palm
And it's a hard winter's day, I dream away
It must have been love 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 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
Yeah, it must have been love 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
(Must have been love but it's over now)
(Must have been love but it's over now)