The country anthem comes after months of dropping secret “Toy Story”-related hints for her fans to find.

Taylor Swift drops new song ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ for* Toy Story 5 *soundtrack: ‘To infinity and beyond’

The country anthem comes after months of dropping secret "Toy Story"-related hints for her fans to find.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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on June 5, 2026 8:46 a.m. ET

Taylor Swift; Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Credit:

Kevin Mazur/Getty; Disney/Pixar

- Taylor Swift has penned a new song titled "I Knew It, I Knew You" for the *Toy Story 5* soundtrack.

- "I Knew It, I Knew You" dropped June 5 ahead of the film's the film's June 19 release.

- The track comes after months of dropping subtle hints related to the beloved animated franchise.

Taylor Swift is back in her country era courtesy of* **Toy Story 5*.

The “Cowboy Like Me” singer unveiled her new single for the upcoming Pixar sequel, titled “I Knew It, I Knew You,” on Friday. The anthem, which appears to be written for everyone’s favorite cowgirl Jesse (Joan Cusack), features lyrics about reuniting with a long-lost friend.

“Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “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.”

The 14-time Grammy winner went on to thank the film’s writer and director Andrew Stanton, who has written all five *Toy Story* films, for thinking of her for the opportunity, as well as legendary franchise songwriter Randy Newman “for the gorgeous sonic tapestry of songs and scores you’ve meticulously woven over the years.” She added, “You created the* Toy Story* musical world, and we are lucky to get to live in it.”

Swift composed the country anthem with her longtime friend and collaborator Jack Antonoff, with whom she previously worked on albums like *Midnights* and *1989*.

“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 wrote. “’I Knew It, I Knew You’ from *Toy Story 5 *is out everywhere now.”

The song arrives after the "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" singer and Pixar dropped hints for months teasing their collaboration. “It’s a *Toy* Story 🤠,” Swift finally confirmed on Instagram on Monday. “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.”

She also highlighted just how special the moment was for her personally as a longtime fan of the series.  “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 explained. “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?”

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Swift confirmed that a *Toy Story*-related surprise was on the way by publishing a countdown on her webstore on Monday that featured a billboard for the upcoming Pixar sequel as well as Jessie (Joan Cusack) dancing on top of a nearby barn. She previously shared a separate countdown that featured the film’s clouds as its background on April 30.

The webstore has since been to reveal three separate versions of the track — the original, an acoustic, and a piano rendition — all on special collector's edition CDs. Each version of the song comes with its own special photo of Swift and artwork of the *Toy Story *cast.

Rumors first began to swirl about Swift potentially teaming up with the beloved animated franchise when she stepped out wearing a blue-and-white striped dress and yellow purse — the film’s recognizable color scheme — on April 27. That same month, fans noticed that the *Toy Story* clouds could be seen floating across their screens when searching for “Taylor Swift” on TikTok.

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As it turns out, that was just the tip of the iceberg. The seagulls typically depicted on the album cover of Swift’s *1989 (Taylor’s Version) *have since been replaced with clouds on multiple streaming platforms. And, if you click on Swift’s original version of *1989*, the words “T.S.” and “1989” can be seen being erased and re-written in blue-and-yellow font.

One fan account also noticed that Swift’s essentials playlist on Apple Music had been to include only the fifth songs on each of her respective albums, with every ’s’ and ’t’ capitalized within the song’s lyrics.

Pixar has also played into the rumors, creating a series of billboards that were placed in multiple cities that featured the letters “TS” alongside 13 clouds. That number, as fans know, just so happens to be Swift’s lucky number.

Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody in 'Toy Story 5'.

The company also posted a video of Jessie dancing on top of one of those very same billboards on May 30 — and made a cheeky reference to Swift, too.

“She’s making the moves up as she goes!” its caption read, a nod to Swift’s single “Shake It Off.”

*Toy Story 5 *is set to round up Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie, and all their pals for another big adventure. This time, however, they’re going toe-to-toe against a new foe: a collection of smart, digital-focused toys including the tablet, Lily.

The film travels from infinity and beyond into movie theaters on June 19.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Soundtracks”