Taylor Swift‘s new song for Toy Story 5, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” arrived on digital streaming platforms Thursday night. Swift co-wrote and co-produced the Taylor Swift Toy Story 5 song with Jack Antonoff, and it ties to a scene in the film where Jessie reunites with her original owner. Swift announced the release on social media alongside childhood footage of herself in a red cowgirl hat.
In her post, Swift described the songwriting process as feeling “like a musical departure and coming home at the same time.” She thanked director Andrew Stanton, composer Randy Newman, and Antonoff by name, attributing the collaboration to the team’s shared affection for the Toy Story characters. Disney had previously confirmed that Swift would contribute a song to the film.
A different emotional note from earlier Toy Story ballads
“I Knew It, I Knew You” takes a noticeably different stance from the franchise’s earlier songs built around Jessie’s storyline. “When She Loved Me,” written by Newman and performed by Sarah McLachlan for Toy Story 2, built Jessie’s backstory around abandonment and became one of the more affecting songs in Disney’s animated catalogue. Swift’s contribution points the other way: the track is described as sprightly and upbeat, suited to reunion rather than loss.
The country lean of the song fits both Jessie’s character and Swift’s own background. Swift’s 2006 debut was recorded in Nashville and drew from country storytelling traditions. She moved away from the genre with 1989 in 2014, her definitive pop turn, and has woven folk and acoustic sounds into Folklore and Evermore since, without returning to a full country release. Toy Story 5 gives her a clear reason to revisit that register, and Jessie’s character makes the pairing a natural one.
How the Taylor Swift Toy Story 5 song came together
“I Knew It, I Knew You” is the first collaboration between Swift and Antonoff since The Tortured Poets Department, the 2024 album released as a double record that dominated streaming charts for months. Their working relationship dates back at least to “Betty,” which Antonoff co-wrote and produced for Swift’s 2020 album Folklore. The two have worked together across several projects since.
The Taylor Swift Toy Story 5 song includes a bridge, a structural element closely associated with Swift’s songwriting. Her bridges tend to appear around the two-thirds mark of a song and frequently shift in tempo or emotional register before the final chorus. They have become one of the more discussed aspects of her recordings.
Physical editions and the Toy Story 5 release date
Physical copies of “I Knew It, I Knew You” on CD and vinyl were available through Swift’s website for a 48-hour window and sold out within that period.
The Taylor Swift Toy Story 5 song is now streaming on all major platforms. Toy Story 5 holds a gala premiere on June 9 and opens in theaters on June 18, its first mainline entry since Toy Story 4 in 2019.