Taylor Swift Returns With Emotional New Song for Toy Story 5: Why the Project Felt Like Coming Home

Becca Longmire is a digital news writer reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on ET Canada, Metro and the Mail Online.

Taylor Swift has released her new original song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which features in the upcoming Toy Story 5 movie

The pop superstar, 36, celebrated the occasion by reminiscing about her love for the franchise on Instagram, as well as posting a sweet throwback clip of herself dressed in cowgirl attire

“Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time,” Swift wrote of the country track

Taylor Swift has released her new original song for the upcoming Toy Story movie, “I Knew It, I Knew You” — and she’s gone back to her country roots!

On Friday, June 5, the pop superstar, 36, dropped the Toy Story 5 track, and reminisced about her love of the franchise as she shared an adorable throwback clip of herself as a young cowgirl on Instagram.

In the sweet video, a curly haired Swift could be seen marching around a room while wearing a red and white top, which had a pair of cowboy boots on it, as well as a denim skirt with a red and white hem, white tights, cowboy boots and a red and white cowboy hat.

“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,” Swift wrote. “And being a @toystory kid from the age of 5 til now… is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond.”

She continued, “Thank you to the brilliant Andrew Stanton for imagining me for this, all those years ago when you wrote this newest film,” referencing the Toy Story 5 director screenwriter, before giving a shoutout to singer songwriter Randy Newman, who has worked on multiple Toy Story tracks through the years.

“Thank you to the incomparable @randynewmanofficial for the gorgeous sonic tapestry of songs and scores you’ve meticulously woven over the years. You created the Toy Story musical world, and we are lucky to get to live in it,” Swift shared.

The “Opalite” hitmaker reunited with her frequent collaborator and friend, Jack Antonoff, to create the track.

“By we, I mean myself and my pal @jackantonoff. We wrote this with so much adoration for these characters that made us laugh and helped us learn lessons and think outside the backyard all throughout our childhoods. ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ from Toy Story 5 is out everywhere now. 🤠🐴,” Swift concluded.

The release comes days after the Grammy winner announced the song on Monday, June 1, following weeks of rumors, as well as sharing the cover art, in which she embraced her curls with a boho Western look.

“I Knew It, I Knew You” marks the first time Swift has released new music since her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, which dropped on Oct. 3, 2025.

Taylor Swift on the cover art for ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’.Beth Garrabrant

Swift wrote on Instagram while announcing the track was on its way, “It’s a Toy Story 🤠. You knew it! My new original song ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ for Disney and @pixar’s @toystory 5 will be yours on June 5th. 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 continued: “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? You can pre order now exclusively on my site and catch Toy Story 5 in theaters June 19th ☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️.”

Taylor Swift has released a new original song for ‘Toy Story 5’.Disney/PixarScreenwriter Andrew Stanton said of the track in a press release statement, “It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song. Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable.”

He added, “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.”

Days before Swift confirmed she was releasing the song, fans suspected her involvement in the latest Toy Story installment after Pixar put up billboards in cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, London and more.

Pixar also shared an Instagram video featuring Jessie’s character dancing in front of one of the billboards teasing the upcoming film.

“She’s making those moves up as she goes,” the caption read, referencing a lyric in Swift’s 2014 hit “Shake It Off.”

Toy Story 5 is due in theaters on June 19, which is also the anniversary of the release of Swift’s debut single, “Tim McGraw.”