The upcoming adventures of Woody, Jessie, and Buzz Lightyear just got more exciting with a newly revealed plot twist: Taylor Swift has recorded a new song for Toy Story 5 called, “I Knew It, I Knew You.”
The pop star announced the track on her website today, revealing three special CD singles featuring different versions of the song (regular, piano, and acoustic). The track is set to arrive June 5. (If the song’s title seems familiar, Gracie Abrams has a track called, “I Knew It, I Know You.”)
“I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5 year old kid watching the first Toy Story movie,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “I fell instantly in love with Toy Story 5 when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening. Sometimes you just know, right?”
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Swift co-wrote and produced “I Knew It, I Knew You” with her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff (marking their first work together since 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department). Per a press release, the track was inspired by Jessie, the cowgirl toy voiced by Joan Cusack, and will find Swift returning to her country roots.
READ MORE: FISHER Is Voicing a Garden Gnome in ‘Toy Story 5’
“It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song,” Toy Story 5 director Andrew Stanton said in a statement. “Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable. The song is so deeply connected to Toy Story. So much so that on first listen, it instantly felt like it had always belonged there, like a long-lost family member. It was kismet.”
The singer confirmed that Toy Story news involving her was coming via a countdown clock on her website that featured Jessie riding on a horse and dancing around. At 2 p.m. ET on Monday, June 1, the news arrived.
The news was not completely surprising. Hints of Swift’s participation have been circulating in the days leading up to Swift’s official announcement. It started on April 30, when Swift’s official website housed a countdown (which then was deleted), that appeared to boast a Toy Story-styled background. The timer appeared to be counting down 48 hours before it would reveal something, only to disappear a few minutes later.
Swifties speculated that Toy Story 5 might feature a song from Swift on the film’s soundtrack, some thought it might even be the closing credits track. Others speculated that Swift would voice a character in the film. At the time, the film studio and Swift stayed mum about the rumours. But then, on May 27, Toy Story 5 directors Andrew Stanton and McKenna “Kenna” Harris and producer Lindsey Collins deflected the rumours in an interview, with Stanton saying it would be a “freaking honour” and Collins saying “It would be pretty amazing” with an emphasis on “would.” Stanton flat-out denied that a Swift song would close out the film. “The sad truth is we watched the movie being mixed last week and the song on the end was not Taylor Swift,” he said.
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Then, some mysterious billboards popped up on Friday, May 29. They featured a Toy Story and seemingly Swift-themed yellow “TS” in the centre of a blue background with white clouds — 13 to be exact, which is Swift’s lucky number, and her birthday is the 13th of December. These apparent Easter eggs, which of course also included both the movie and Swift’s initials, lent the rumours more credence. By Saturday, May 30, Pixar shared the billboard in question, only this one featured a dancing Jessie, though no song was offered. “She’s making those moves up as she goes!,” reads the caption.
From Rolling Stone US
