Taylor Swift has said creating a new song for Toy Story 5 was a “new challenge” – but that it ultimately felt like “coming home”.
To the delight of both her fans and Pixar’s, the pop superstar released “I Knew It, I Knew You” on Friday 5 June. A joyous country-pop ditty about love, the song was written for Jessie, the rough-and-tumble cowgirl character voiced by Hollywood icon Joan Cusack.
Swift, 36, announced the track’s release in an emotional post on Instagram, in which she shared a home video of herself as a young girl dressed up in a red and white cowgirl outfit.
“Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time,” she began the post, in a reference to her origins as a country artist with early hits like “Tim McGraw” and “Mean” using a distinct southern twang.
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. And being a @toystory kid from the age of 5 til now… is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and… pic.twitter.com/gewjzSS0qg
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 5, 2026
The latter won the Grammy for Best Country Song in 2012. Swift, who co-wrote the track with her frequent collaborator and Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff, continued: “Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once.
“And being a @toystory kid from the age of 5 til now... is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond.”
Swift went on to thank the “brilliant” Toy Story creator Andrew Stanton for involving her in the forthcoming film, as well as the “incomparable” Randy Newman “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 said of Newman, the legendary songwriter behind such indelible Toy Story hits as “You've Got A Friend In Me” and “We Belong Together”.
“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,” she concluded.
Swift fans already can’t get enough of the track, with one writing: “This song is going triple platinum in my house rn.” Another celebrated her return to her country roots, writing on X: “Country Taylor is ALIVE AND WELL.”
“Childhood me is crying happy tears watching baby Taylor in that cowboy hat — Country Tay is BACK and Jessie finally has her perfect anthem!” a third said. “To infinity and beyond with this one.”
The release follows weeks of speculation surrounding Swift’s involvement in the animated sequel, which ramped up last weekend when mystery promotional billboards appeared in the US featuring her initials.
The billboard, stylised in the instantly recognisable Toy Story manner, featured the giant letters “TS” together with 13 clouds – known to be Swift’s favourite number – sending her fans into a frenzy.
Swift confirmed the rumours herself in an Instagram post shared on Tuesday (2 June). “You knew it!” the 14-time Grammy award-winning artist told her fans.
Set for theatrical release on 19 June, the new instalment of the Toy Story saga focuses on technology’s encroachment into childhood as it follows young Bonnie, in thrall to her new Lilipad tablet.
Greta Lee, Alan Cumming, Conan O’Brien and musician Bad Bunny join the all-star cast, with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Cusack reprising their roles as Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Jessie, respectively.
