{"id":1291,"date":"2026-06-05T20:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2026-06-05T20:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:39:07","slug":"taylor-swifts-toy-story-5-song-is-a-return-to-her-pop-country-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1291","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift\u2019s \u2018Toy Story 5\u2019 song is a return to her pop country roots"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>By MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK\u00a0 \u2014 Taylor Swift\u2019s new song for the Disney and Pixar\u2019s forthcoming \u201cToy Story 5\u201d film is here. On Friday, Swift released \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You,\u201d a bit of a return to country music for the performer who first made a name for herself in the Nashville music scene before taking over the world.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1289\">Arthur Mac\u2019s Tap and Snack is leaving Oakland<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s everything you need to know about \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:\u00a0Taylor Swift\u2019s net worth is now $2 billion, according to Forbes<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Taylor Swift goes country \u2026 again<\/h4>\n<p>Swift doesn\u2019t sing with a familiar twang on \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You,\u201d but no matter \u2014 the song features some elements inextricable from the country genre: Live instrumentation, plucky banjo and harmonica that opens the track.<\/p>\n<p>Most view Swift\u2019s last official foray into the country music genre to be 2012\u2019s \u201cRed,\u201d though the album is much more of a crossover experiment. It would be more astute to label \u201cSpeak Now\u201d as her last true-blue, full-length, country music release \u2014 and that was more than 15 years ago.<\/p>\n<p><span><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"youtube-player\" height=\"360\" loading=\"lazy\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SzJXikN_4wA?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" style=\"border:0;\" width=\"640\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Additionally: \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d is also Swift\u2019s first original material since \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl\u201d was released in October.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The song is also co-produced by Jack Antonoff, her former, frequent collaborator. Swift started working with Antonoff on 2014\u2019s \u201c1989\u201d through 2024\u2019s \u201cThe Tortured Poets Department.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the pair started their long collaboration after Swift\u2019s country era, perhaps with the rare exception of \u201cBetty\u201d from her 2020 \u201cFolklore\u201d album.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWriting 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,\u201d Swift wrote on social media Friday, referencing the beloved cowgirl character. \u201cAnd being a \u2018Toy Story\u2019 kid from the age of 5 til now\u2026 is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>The \u2018I Knew It, I Knew You\u2019 rollout<\/h4>\n<p>Last weekend, billboards with the initials \u201cTS,\u201d stylized like the \u201cToy Story\u201d logo, appeared in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico City and London \u2014 fitting, as \u201cTS\u201d works both for the beloved franchise and the musician.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1287\">Photos show East Bay man\u2019s close encounter with gray whale on North Coast beach<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Monday, Swift confirmed the song was forthcoming, writing on Instagram, \u201cI\u2019ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I\u2019ve adored since I was a 5-year-old kid watching the first Toy Story movie. 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?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also shared that preorders for three CD single versions of the track were available on her site. They quickly sold out: One features the song as it appears in the film, another is an acoustic version and the last is a piano version.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s incredible just how meaningful it\u2019s 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,\u201d \u201cToy Story 5\u201d director and writer Andrew Stanton said in a press statement at the time. \u201cThe song is so deeply connected to \u2018Toy Story.\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Is Taylor Swift headed to the Oscars?<\/h4>\n<p>Some fans online have begun speculating: Could this be an Oscar contender in the original song category?<\/p>\n<p>Quite possibly, if it adheres to all relevant rules and regulations! For 2027 Academy Awards consideration, a feature film \u2014 and its song submissions \u2014 must have a qualifying theatrical release between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 this year. \u201cToy Story 5\u201d will be released in theaters worldwide on June 19, so it qualifies there.<\/p>\n<p>It also depends on when \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d is placed in \u201cToy Story 5.\u201d There\u2019s a new rule this year: If the song plays over the end credits, it must also overlap with the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits actually begin.<\/p>\n<p>At any rate, if Swift\u2019s song is submitted \u2014 and if she were to win \u2014 she\u2019d be just that much closer to an EGOT. She has 14 Grammys and an Emmy. An Oscar would mean she\u2019d only need a Tony. Could Broadway be next?<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1277\">20-year-old filmmaker\u2019s \u2018Backrooms\u2019 rocks Hollywood with record-setting debut<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swift doesn\u2019t sing with a familiar twang on \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You,\u201d but no matter \u2014 the song features some elements inextricable from the country genre: Live instrumentation, plucky banjo and harmonica that opens the track.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Taylor Swift\u2019s \u2018Toy Story 5\u2019 song is a return to her pop country roots - 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