It Must Have Been Love

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.[7]

All songs written and composed by Per Gessle, except where noted.

• 7-inch single (Sweden 1362887)

1. "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)" – 4:48
2. "Turn to Me" – 2:58 (Music by Marie Fredriksson)

Bill Coleman from Billboard described the song as a "rhythmic ballad".[12] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote, "Per and Marie are on target again. Per Gessle continues to demonstrate his uncanny ability to compose exceptional pop melodies and Marie Fredrickson makes the words and music jump through the speakers. Though timed to coincide with the release of the Julia Roberts/Richard Gere film Pretty Woman, this tune from the soundtrack could easily stand on its own. Interest in the movie only gives it that much more of a boost."[13] Dave Simpson from The Guardian said the song is a "masterpiece of pain". He added that "Fredriksson's genius is in delivering the title line clean and stoic, rather than with tortured vibrato, to show that she's resigned to her fate. But with the jarringly urgent upward key change in the middle eight, the pain floods in again, and she's back to square one."[14] Liverpool Echo wrote, "It's a ballad, it's big in America, but it's not as heavy-handed as the usual US success. Funnily enough, there even seems to be a bit of an Abba influence in there."[15] Refinery29 included it at number 39 on their list of The Saddest Breakup Songs of All Time, saying the track "represents the perfect ratio of schlock to sentiment. In someone like Celine Dion's hands, this would have been a complete disaster, but the Swedish duo gaze off to 'where the water flows' and 'where the wind blows' without sounding like '90s Disney characters.[16] Brendon Veevers from Renowned for Sound noted the song as a "timeless power ballad that has aged like a fine wine."[17]

A re-written and edited version of the track – the lyric "It's a hard Christmas day" was changed to "It's a hard winter's day", twenty seconds were removed from the intro, as well as 24 seconds from the outro[11] – became an international hit during the summer of 1990. It was not the first single released from the Pretty Woman soundtrack, but it became the most successful, spending two weeks at the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 in June.[8] The song was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 copies in the US.[18] At the end of the year, Billboard listed it as the second most successful single of 1990, behind Wilson Phillips' "Hold On".[19]

The single peaked at number three in the UK—their highest peaking single there. It stayed on the UK Singles Chart for 14 weeks,[20] and was certified gold by the BPI for sales and streams in excess of 400,000.[21] The song was re-released in the UK and Ireland in September 1993 to tie in with the TV premiere of Pretty Woman,[22] peaking at number ten in both countries.[20][23] It became Roxette's second of three number one singles in Australia, spending two weeks at the top spot in July 1990.[24] The song was a massive hit in Norway, where it spent twelve weeks at number one.[25] In Switzerland, the song spent three non-consecutive weeks at number one, and a further five weeks at number two—being held off the top spot in those weeks by Matthias Reim's "Verdammt, ich lieb' dich".[26] It also reached number one in Canada, Poland and Spain, and the top five in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Germany, where it spent nine months in the top 75.[27]

In 2005, Gessle received an award from BMI after the song's four millionth radio play.[28] In 2014, he received an updated award from the same organization after its five millionth radio play.[29]

The second video was directed by Doug Freel and was shot in a warehouse. It included clips from Pretty Woman, with Fredriksson singing and playing piano and Gessle playing guitar between various prop changes.[7] There is also an alternate version of the video, without the movie scenes, which was available solely on the VHS The Videos. According to Fredriksson, shooting this video was a surreal experience, as Freel "wanted all movements in slow motion, so I had to lip-sync the vocals at double speed. My first lesson in how to sing an emotional ballad Mickey Mouse style."[4]

As of October 2019, this video has more than 416 million views on YouTube.[30]

All songs were written and composed by Gessle, except "Cry", music by Fredriksson and Gessle.

• Australian cassette and 7-inch single (US2399)
• EU cassette and 7-inch single (Germany 006-1363807 · UK EM141)

1. "It Must Have Been Love" – 4:20
2. "Paint" – 3:29

• US and Canada cassette (4JM-50283)

1. "It Must Have Been Love" – 4:20
2. "Chances" – 4:07

• EU 12-inch single (Germany 060-1363806 · UK EM141)
• Japanese 3" CD single (TODP-2194)

1. "It Must Have Been Love" – 4:20
2. "Paint" – 3:29
3. "Cry" (Live from Himmelstalundshallen, Norrköping on 16 December 1988) – 5:42

• UK CD single (CDEM141)

1. "It Must Have Been Love" – 4:20
2. "Paint" – 3:29
3. "Cry" (Live from Norrköping) – 5:42
4. "Surrender" (Live from Norrköping on 16 December 1988) – 3:07

Music and original lyrics by Per Gessle. Spanish lyrics by Luis G. Escolar.

• CD single (EU 8652802)

1. "No Sé Si Es Amor" ("It Must Have Been Love") – 4:41
2. "Directamente a Ti" ("Run to You") – 3:30

All songs written and composed by Per Gessle.

• 12-inch single (Sweden 0724386504715)

1. "It Must Have Been Love" – 4:18
2. "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)" – 4:47
3. "It Must Have Been Love" (L.A. Version) – 4:45

In 1989, the late Ugandan musician Philly Lutaaya, who was then based in Sweden used the song to record his hit "Alone and Frightened" on his album "Alone", in which he came out as an HIV/AIDS patient, becoming the first public figure to be identified with the virus/disease during an HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda.[77][78]

The song was recorded twice in Portuguese, by the duo Gilberto e Gilmar as Outro dia nasceu[79] in 1992, and by the forró band Moleca 100 as Vergonha não sou feliz mais in 2012.[80]

Shirley Bassey covered the song in 1995 for the album Shirley Bassey Sings the Movies.[81]

In 2006, Swedish pop singer Shirley Clamp recorded a cover version of the song called "När kärleken föds" ("When Love is Born"), it peaked at #6 at the Swedish singles chart.[82]

In 2019, English singer Megan McKenna covered "It Must Have Been Love" as the first winner of The X Factor: Celebrity. Following the announcement that she had won, her version of the song was released on 30 November 2019.[83][84]