Taylor Swift returns to country roots with 'Toy Story 5' song

Taylor Swift released "I Knew It, I Knew You" on Friday for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, calling the project "a musical departure and coming home at the same time." She shared a throwback Instagram video of herself dressed as Jessie and said the song was a "new challenge" that came "second nature."

Swift thanked filmmaker Andrew Stanton for imagining her for the film and praised Randy Newman for creating the Toy Story musical world. She said she wrote the song with Jack Antonoff "with so much adoration for these characters," and described the upbeat country tune as an emotional take on reuniting with an old friend, singing lines such as "All you said was 'Hi' / And I remembered I loved you."

Toy Story 5 opens June 19, which the report notes is the 20th anniversary of Swift’s debut single "Tim McGraw." The piece also recalls her start as a country singer and her later move into pop with the release of "1989" in 2014.

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