Chords + Lyrics | It Must Be Love
Intro
||: Am Amadd9/E :|| x4
Verse 1
| Am Amadd9/E | Am Amadd9/E | G Gsus4 | G (G#m) |
I never thought I’d miss you, half as much as I do.
| Am Amadd9/E | Am Amadd9/E | G Gsus4 | G C D |
And I never thought I’d feel this way, the way I feel, about you.
Bridge 1
| Em A | Dm7 E |
As soon as I wake up, every night, every day.
| Am Am7 | Am6 D7 (D E F# G A B) |
I know that it’s you I need, to take the blues away
Chorus 1
||: 6/4 G Bm G/C C D :||
It must be love, love, love.
It must be love, love, love.
|4/4 C D | Em |
Nothing more, nothing less, love is the best.
Verse 2
How can it be that we can, say so much without words?
Bless you and bless me, bless the bees, and the birds.
Bridge 2
I’ve got to be near you, every night, every day.
I couldn’t be happy, any other way.
Chorus 2
It must be love, love, love.
It must be love, love, love.
Nothing more, nothing less, love is the best.
Solo
| Am Amadd9/E | Am Amadd9/E | G Gsus4 | G Gsus4 |
| Am Amadd9/E | Am Amadd9/E | G Gsus4 | G Gsus4 C D |
Bridge 3
As soon as I wake up, every night, every day.
I know that it’s you I need, to take the blues away.
Outro
| 6/4 G Bm G/C C D |
It must be love, love, love.
| 6/4 G Bm G/C C | 4/4 C D | Em |
It must be love, love, love.
| 6/4 G Bm G/C C D |
It must be love, love, love.
| G Bm G/C C |
It must be love, love, love.
| G Bm G/C C D |
It must be love, love, love.
| G Bm G/C C D |
It must be love, love, love.
| G Bm G/C C |
It must be love, love, love.
| G Bm | to fade
It must be love…
It Must Be Love Chords: Mastering the Progressions
The chords in It Must Be Love by Madness are simpler than you might expect — it’s the rhythm that really challenges players. Let’s start by breaking down the chord progressions.
Intro + Verse + Solo
The intro is identical to the start of the verse and solo, featuring a movement from Am to Amadd9/E. When the verse begins, we move to G, which is then extended to Gsus4.
When repeated, we transition via G#m, but as we approach the first bridge, we play C–D. This C–D progression suggests that these are the IV–V chords, meaning G is the tonic (I), and the previous Am is the II chord, not VI.
Here are the full chords for the verse:
| Am Amadd9/E | Am Amadd9/E | G Gsus4 | G (G#m) |
| Am Amadd9/E | Am Amadd9/E | G Gsus4 | G Gsus4 C D |
Different parts are played for the first and second verses, as well as the solo. To see exactly how, check the TAB section of the lesson here: It Must Be Love – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Bridge
The bridge introduces Em–A–Dm7, which is tricky to pin down to either a modal interchange or a key change. Is Dm7 functioning as a Vm? The following E chord replaces Em, which can be interpreted as IIIx in C or VIx in G:
| Em | A | Dm7 | E |
The second half of the bridge features a progression similar to Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, written here as Am–Am7–Am6, though it could also be played as Am–Am/G–Am/F#:
| Am Am7 | Am6 D7 (D E F# G A B) |
The final bar of the bridge contains two sets of triplets moving up the D Mixolydian scale, with D7 acting as the dominant (V).
This clarifies that Am must be the II chord (with the 6 as Dorian) and D7 the V.
Chorus
The chorus follows a I–III–I/4–IV–V pattern, like this:
||:6/4 G Bm G/C C D :||
| C D | Em |
The tricky chord here is the quick G/C — it’s quite unusual and took me a while to work out (see the TAB). The chorus is also in 6/4 time.
For the outro, we sometimes skip the D and just hold the C. Here’s a complete chord chart:
It Must Be Love Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
To download my chord chart can be done as a PDF, or in the iReal Pro format:
It Must Be Love TAB | Course Preview
It took me three days to work out all the chords and parts for It Must Be Love! The end result is a detailed set of TABs covering every section of the song.
Here’s a preview of what to play for the chorus, imitating the xylophone!
Playing Difficult Arrangements Out of Tune
Not only is It Must Be Love a tricky arrangement with some unusual chords, it’s also slightly out of tune. What most likely happened is that the label sped up the final recording to make it sound a bit more lively.
When we play along using an instrument tuned to 440Hz, it sounds noticeably off. To fix this, you can either tune your guitar up to 445Hz or slow the track down by about 1.2%. Software such as Serato (or similar) can help you achieve this adjustment.
It Must Be Love Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: It Must Be Love (Madness) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
