Taylor Swift broke three major streaming records in a single day Thursday with “I Knew It, I Knew You,” the original song she wrote for Pixar’s upcoming Toy Story 5 — a country-inflected track that marks her most explicit return to the genre since her early career.
Spotify announced the single became the most-streamed country song in a single day by a female artist in the platform’s history. The records kept coming across rival platforms: Apple Music said it set the all-time record for the biggest soundtrack single by first-day streams and became the platform’s biggest country single of 2026, while Amazon Music reported the song had the largest 24-hour streaming debut for any track globally on the platform this year.
Swift co-wrote and produced the song with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, and the result sounds deliberately rooted in her origins. The sound echoes her self-titled debut album, “Fearless,” and the pluckier moments of “Folklore.” Swift said the inspiration came immediately after watching an early cut of the film. “Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time,” she wrote on Instagram.
The song centers on Jessie, the cowgirl character voiced by Joan Cusack, and the music video offers glimpses into Jessie’s relationships with Woody and Buzz Lightyear, closing on a red-headed girl playing with the cowgirl doll in a tire swing — footage that appears to come from the film itself.
Critical response was swift and warm. Consequence called it a track with “real earworm potential,” Elle described it as “emotionally moving,” and USA Today praised Swift for painting scenes rather than delivering punchlines. Fan reaction on social media leaned into the surprise of the song’s upbeat tone, which many had not anticipated from a franchise known for emotional gut-punches.
Toy Story 5, directed by Andrew Stanton and centering more heavily on Jessie than previous installments, opens in theaters June 19. Swift’s involvement had been teased for weeks through a coordinated campaign: Disney/Pixar billboards displaying the initials “TS” against cloud imagery appeared in cities worldwide ahead of the announcement.
