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 Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning It Must Be Love. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar sharp to 445Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
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 further down this guitar lesson.
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
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.
This isn’t easy — to make it work and not have everyone miss the huge production of the original, you must absolutely nail these parts. Let’s start with the intro.
Intro
This is perhaps the simplest section of the entire tune. Play it with confidence so everyone knows you’ve done your homework.
Verse
The first verse starts in the same way as the intro before we move the concept down to a G chord. Notice how we go to G#m when repeating, but switch to D when transitioning.
The second verse is different — there are two guitar parts, which I’ve aimed to combine. This is super challenging!
Bridge
I used to play an Am here in bar 1, but it’s actually an A chord. The Am with a falling bass line could also be viewed as Am–Am/G–Am/F#. It’s useful to see it both ways.
Chorus
I’ve got two parts for you: one sticks with the reggae-style skanks, like this:
Later on, this idea repeats in several variations toward the end of the chorus. Do your homework here and work out what’s going on!
I’ve also transcribed the xylophone part — love this!
In an ideal world, you’ll explore the fretboard using different shapes, blending these two ideas while nailing the rhythmic variations toward the end.
Solo
The solo follows the verse progression but uses different rhythms. Try this:
When you can play all this TAB, return to the chords lesson and practise along with Madness using the chord chart. Can you get the arrangement and the end variations just right?
It Must Be Love Chords: Continue Learning
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