Taylor Swift returns to country roots with 'I Knew It, I Knew You' for Toy Story 5
The pop star released a banjo-laced original song for the cowgirl character Jessie, calling the project a 'musical departure and coming home at the same time.'
Taylor Swift released 'I Knew It, I Knew You' on Friday, 5 June, a country-inflected original song written for Disney and Pixar's forthcoming 'Toy Story 5.' The track, co-produced with her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, marks Swift's most explicit return to the country genre since at least 2012's 'Red,' and by some assessments her first true country work since 2010's 'Speak Now.'
A homecoming in sound and story
The song opens with live instrumentation, plucky banjo, and harmonica, elements inextricable from the country genre. Swift described the creative process in an Instagram post accompanying a childhood video of herself in a red and white cowgirl outfit.
The track was written for Jessie, the cowgirl toy voiced by Joan Cusack, and arrives as Swift's first original material since her 2025 album 'The Life of a Showgirl.'Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time. Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once.
A lifelong Toy Story fan
Swift, 36, has emphasised her deep personal connection to the franchise. She first saw 'Toy Story' at age five, the same year the original film was released in November 1995.
She thanked director Andrew Stanton for involving her and paid tribute to Randy Newman, the composer behind the series' iconic musical world.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.
You created the Toy Story musical world, and we are lucky to get to live in it.
The Antonoff reunion
'I Knew It, I Knew You' reunites Swift with Jack Antonoff, the 13-time Grammy winner who has produced her albums from '1989' through 'The Tortured Poets Department.' Notably, their collaboration began after Swift's country era, making this track a rare genre throwback within their partnership. The song was written with, in Swift's words, 'so much adoration for these characters that made us laugh and helped us learn lessons and think outside the backyard all throughout our childhoods.'
Fan reception and rollout
Swift's return to country was met with enthusiasm online. Fans celebrated what they saw as a revival of her early sound, with reactions calling the track 'triple platinum in my house' and declaring 'Country Taylor is ALIVE AND WELL.' The release followed a teasing campaign: billboards with the initials 'TS' in the 'Toy Story' typeface appeared in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico City, and London. Swift's official website briefly displayed a 48-hour countdown with blue-sky clouds before it was removed.
The film and its cast
'Toy Story 5' arrives in cinemas on 19 June 2026, according to multiple reports, though one source cites 17 June. The fifth instalment of the franchise that began in 1995 features a voice cast including Bad Bunny as Pizza with Sunglasses, Greta Lee as Lilypad, Conan O'Brien as Smarty Pants, and Craig Robinson as Atlas. The toys face obsolescence at the hands of tablets and modern technology, a theme that resonates with the nostalgia woven through Swift's contribution.
