BEST OF 2010 (songs) #2 Belle & Sebastian - I Didn't See It Coming

This was personally my favorite song of the year. Sarah Martin takes the lead on "I Didn't See It Coming," a song about down on their luck lovers who are determined to live life in full despite their woes. Behind her the band finds a groove with a slight shuffle that slowly builds toward a climax, bringing frontman Stuart Murdoch out from the shadows to drive the song home with his pleadings of "make me dance, I want to surrender." The song is Belle & Sebastian in a nutshell; joyful in spite of crappy circumstances, happy, but not ignorantly so. As someone who can relate all too well to the song's protagonists, every single feeling and word rings true. There is no wrong move, no false step in "I Didn't See It Coming," instead it imparts authentic hope - not hope that things will get better, but hope that you can find joy even when life is dealing you a shit hand.