Must Ve Been Love Lyrics

Where to Find the Full Must Ve Been Love Lyrics and What You Need to Know Before You Use Them

The song you are looking for is by Roxette, released in 1990 as part of the Pretty Woman soundtrack. It was written by Per Gessle. The track hit number one in several countries and remains one of the most covered pop songs from that era. If you need the words, they are widely available across lyric databases, but there are a few details people keep getting wrong, so I want to clarify them before you go further. The official lyrics go like this: Ridin' in a limousine
Watchin' the leaves on the trees
Reminding me of the days
And all of the things that you've done

I guess that you'd rather go and spend
One last night in your designer clothes
Than be with me 'cause you know
It'd be too painful for you

Must've been love but it's over now
It lasted a while but it had to die now
Must've been love but it was over in the end
Must've been love but it was over in the end

Was it worth the pain for the joy that we had?
All the nights we spent together seem such a waste

Must've been love waking up in the morning
But I had to face the reality
Must've been love but it was over in the end
Must've been love but it was over in the end
Must've been love but it was over in the end

The song structure is straightforward. Verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, then the chorus repeats. That repetition is why the lyrics stick in people's heads, and it is also why sync licensing requests for this track come in so frequently.

How to Actually Use These Lyrics in Practice

I have done enough lyric licensing work to know that simply pulling the text from a website is not the same as having the right to use it. The lyrics are protected by copyright owned by Sony Music Publishing and managed through various administrative outlets depending on territory. Per Gessle retains his writer share, and the publishing is split between his Swedish and international partners. If you are putting together a cover version, a film scene, or a social media campaign, you need to understand which rights you are actually dealing with. Here is what most people miss. The lyrics themselves are separate from the master recording. If you record your own version, you only need a mechanical license for the underlying composition, which covers both the music and the words. If you pull the original Roxette track, you need both a sync license and a master use license, and the costs jump significantly. I once had a client who wanted to use the original recording in a YouTube video and thought one license would cover everything. It did not. They ended up paying double because they had already published the video without clearance on the master. That mistake cost them about three weeks and roughly four thousand dollars in retroactive fees. Just get it right the first time. For a mechanical license on a cover version, you can go through the Harry Fox Agency in the United States, or use a service like Easy Song Licensing or Loudr. The standard mechanical rate for 1990 compositions is the current statutory rate, which is around 9.1 cents per unit for physical copies or 1.75 cents per minute for streaming. The exact amount depends on your distribution method. For sync licenses, there is no statutory rate. You negotiate. Budget anywhere from five hundred dollars for a small independent project to twenty thousand or more for a national commercial.

Common Pitfalls That Waste Time and Money

The biggest issue I see is people assuming that because a song is on Spotify or YouTube, they can use the lyrics freely. They cannot. Streaming platforms have their own licensing agreements with labels and publishers, and those agreements do not extend to third-party creators. Uploading a video with the original track or even a cover you did not clear will result in a takedown or a claim, and repeated violations can escalate to legal action. Another problem is lyric accuracy. Many websites have incorrect or incomplete versions of the Must've Been Love lyrics. I once worked with a theater group that printed fan-made lyrics for their program. The bridge section had the wrong lines entirely, and they had already gone to press. Fixing it meant a full reprint, which set them back ten days and nearly fifteen hundred dollars. Always cross-reference with at least two reliable sources, preferably the official sheet music or a publisher-verified database. There is also a misconception about public domain. This song was released in 1990, so it is firmly under copyright protection for decades to come. In the United States, works from that era are protected for seventy-five years from publication, which means this track likely stays under copyright until at least 2065. Do not bother looking for a public domain route. It does not exist here.

Where to Get the Lyrics Legitimately

If you just need the words for personal reference, licensed lyric databases like LyricFind or Musixmatch are reliable. Many official artist websites and the Roxette discography pages also publish the complete text. For sheet music, you can order it through Musicnotes, Sheet Music Direct, or Hal Leonard. Those sources include the official lyrics alongside the notation, which is useful if you are preparing a performance arrangement. For licensing purposes, contact the publisher directly. Sony Music Publishing handles a significant portion of the catalog, and their licensing department can route you to the correct administrator for your territory. If you are outside the United States, check with your local performance rights organization. ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC cover U.S. territories, but countries like Sweden, the UK, and Australia have their own collecting societies that may already be collecting royalties on your behalf without you knowing it.

When This Approach Does Not Work

Licensing through official channels assumes you are using the lyrics in a commercial or semi-commercial context. If you are a student working on a class project that will never be distributed publicly, fair use may apply, though that is a narrow and risky argument. Fair use depends on factors like purpose, nature of the work, amount used, and effect on the market. A school presentation rarely qualifies as transformative enough to stand on fair use alone, and relying on it is a gamble I would not recommend. If your project has any public exposure, even a small one, get the license. If budget is a real constraint, consider writing an original song instead. The entire licensing process for Must've Been Love takes anywhere from two to six weeks depending on responsiveness, and the fees add up quickly. An original composition eliminates that friction entirely and costs nothing beyond your own time.