Taylor Swift’s Toy Story Entry Arrives as a Country Pivot, Not a Victory Lap

Taylor Swift will release a new song for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack on June 5th. The track, titled “I Knew It, I Knew You,” was co-written and co-produced with Jack Antonoff and is tied to Jessie’s storyline, a character arc that stretches back to 1999’s Toy Story 2.

Swift framed the project in personal terms. “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,” she wrote in a social media post. A press release describes the song as a return to her country roots, blending styles that have marked her career. The news arrives with three collector’s CD editions available for pre-order through her website, a product strategy that suggests the release is more than a commissioned one-off.

The choice carries weight for a franchise whose musical soul has belonged to Randy Newman for three decades. Newman’s original songs for the series earned an Oscar nomination each time, and “We Belong Together” won in 2011. Swift’s own soundtrack history includes contributions to Hannah Montana: The Movie, The Hunger Games, Fifty Shades Darker, and Cats, none of which led to an Academy Award nod. With “I Knew It, I Knew You” stepping into Newman’s territory, the intersection of her songwriting and the Toy Story legacy becomes hard to ignore. Toy Story 5 premieres June 19th.