Taylor Swift says it wasn’t until recently that she could relate to Jessie, the cowgirl at the heart of Toy Story 5.
The singer-songwriter, who’s been busily campaigning for an Oscar nomination for “I Knew It, I Knew You,” which she co-wrote and co-produced with Jack Antonoff, spoke about how watching the film struck a chord with her during a press conference Friday.
The lessons Jessie learns “resonated with me because they were lessons I’ve learned in my own life,” she says. “Maybe I couldn’t have written this song until I was in my 30s; it takes a long time to process memories and perceive them with acceptance. That’s the most beautiful thing Jesse learns in this film. The specific kind of gratitude in this song feels like something I’ve arrived at more recently in my life. I don’t think I was ready to write about it this way until I saw Jessie experience it.”
Swift also talked about how she wanted to honor Randy Newman in her songwriting process, since Newman had been such an integral part of the Toy Story franchise with “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
So when the filmmakers approached her about participating in the project, “I called Jack [Antonoff] because I wanted to make this with someone who respects, understands, and is a superfan of Randy’s work,” she says. “To honor the film and its musical world, I knew I’d have to stretch creatively and reach for progressions I wouldn’t naturally choose.”
That meant stretching themselves musically with different chords as well as different instruments. “We approached it with instruments I’ve never used in a song before, including a virginal harpsichord, and chord progressions that took me to different places,” she says. “I also wanted to bring in country elements for Jessie,” she says. “Her time on Woody’s Roundup and her being a cowgirl suggested banjo, mandolin, and harmonica — structural choices I know how to make and that felt right for that side of Jessie.”
Given all of these creative explorations, she says, “this song truly feels like a new experience for me as a songwriter.”
Swift admits she could relate to Jessie, given that she starts out being forgotten but grows to understand her worth — just as she, too, has had to reinvent herself throughout her career. “Being in the entertainment industry, I’ve always felt it’s harder to move when you’re a moving target,” she says. “Once people feel they’ve figured you out creatively and know what you can do, they usually move into the discardment phase. So I’ve tried to pivot: if they think you’re going to zig, you zag. Rather than seeing that as exhausting or daunting, I see it as a new adventure. Once I’ve done one thing, I look for something else that inspires me.”
Given that she’s famous for writing songs that reflect her personal life, she says in some ways, there’s more pressure writing for a film “because you want to get it right for a character you love, especially when you want to honor films you’ve adored for so long,” she says, adding that it’s a holiday tradition of hers to rewatch Toy Story. “I learn something new and take something different away each time as I’ve grown up. It was a joy to write from the perspective of one of my favorite characters, especially at the moment I found her in her narrative journey: a moment of resolution. I’m so happy I could give her that clarity and be part of her ‘aha’ moment.”
