{"id":742332,"date":"2026-06-17T08:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/742332\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T08:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:07:13","slug":"taylor-swifts-i-knew-it-i-know-you-no-1-five-burning-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/742332\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew It, I Know You’ No. 1: Five Burning Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThis week, \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d becomes the 15th Billboard Hot 100<\/a> No. 1 of Taylor Swift<\/a>\u2018s illustrious pop career \u2014\u00a0and the 10th from this decade alone. But it also marks a first for Swift: It\u2019s the only one of her 15 No. 1s to come from a movie soundtrack.<\/p>\n

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See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n

\n\tSwift has a long track record of notable movie songs, including a pair of No. 2-peaking Hot 100 smashes with 2010\u2019s \u201cToday Was a Fairytale\u201d (from Valentine\u2019s Day) and 2016\u2019s \u201cI Don\u2019t Wanna Live Forever\u201d alongside ZAYN (from Fifty Shades Darker). But it\u2019s the Jack Antonoff-co-written\/co-produced \u201cI Knew It,\u201d from the upcoming Toy Story 5, which becomes her first to get over the top on the chart \u2014\u00a0while also becoming the former Nashville hitmaker\u2019s first song in over a decade to be embraced by country radio.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow long do we think the hit will last? And do we think it presages a full country pivot from Taylor? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.<\/p>\n

\t\t1. Is it surprising to you that this is Swift\u2019s first soundtrack No. 1 \u2014 either that she\u2019d never had one before with any of her many movie songs, or that this was the song to finally get her there?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tEric Renner Brown: I was initially surprised \u2013 partly because I simply didn\u2019t realize how many soundtrack songs she\u2019s made \u2013\u00a0but after digging in to the specifics, it makes sense. It\u2019s easy to forget, but Taylor Inc. is a relatively recent phenomenon; before the late \u201910s, it wasn\u2019t a foregone conclusion that her singles would go No. 1 just by virtue of their sheer existence. Plus several of her soundtrack songs came\u00a0much\u00a0earlier in her career:\u00a0five\u00a0before\u00a0Billboard\u00a0adjusted its chart criteria to include streaming, and four of those before\u00a0Red, her true pop crossover. <\/p>\n

\n\tSo really, the question is why her four other soundtrack singles from 2016 onward didn\u2019t top the chart \u2013\u00a0and they mostly have explanations, whether its being attached to a more risqu\u00e9 property (Fifty Shades Darker\u2018s \u201cI Don\u2019t Wanna Live Forever\u201d), a more maligned property (Cats\u2018 \u201cBeautiful Ghosts\u201d) or no traditional property at all (\u201cOnly The Young,\u201d from Netflix\u2019s\u00a0Miss Americana\u00a0documentary about Swift herself). Why\u00a0Where The Crawdads Sing\u2018s \u201cCarolina\u201d from 2022 not only didn\u2019t top the Hot 100, but stalled out at No. 60, is the only real headscratcher. But Swift is now bigger than ever,\u00a0Toy Story\u00a0is an iconic property and the Disney machine is among the most powerful in pop culture \u2013 so it\u2019s easy to understand why this Swift soundtrack song was the one to finally get her to No. 1.<\/p>\n

\n\tChristopher Claxton: Toy Story\u00a0might be the biggest film franchise she\u2019s ever had her music featured in. Behind it, the closest comparison might be\u00a0The Hannah Montana Movie, where she contributed \u201cCrazier\u201d \u2014 but that was 2009, long before streaming became the cultural force it is today. So it\u2019s not surprising that \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d became her first soundtrack No. 1.\u00a0Toy Story\u00a0is a true behemoth; a Disney-commissioned study estimates the franchise has generated $16 billion in revenue and roughly $50 billion in economic impact over 30 years. That level of legacy naturally elevates anything attached to it, especially when paired with an artist as globally dominant as Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n

\n\tLyndsey Havens: Not really\u2026 only because her output\u00a0outside\u00a0of soundtracks is\u00a0so\u00a0strong that I don\u2019t really associate her to any soundtrack in particular. When I think of Taylor Swift, I think of Taylor Swift. It makes perfect sense, then, that this would be the soundtrack song to finally get here there because everything about its rollout and release was entirely Swiftian \u2014 from the many easter eggs to the live debut and heck, even to her approaching Disney with this idea and song. Sure, it\u2019s a song for\u00a0Toy Story, but it\u2019s just as much a song for Taylor\u2019s world, which is why I think it\u2019s such a success \u2014 as she surely \u201cknew it\u201d would be all along.<\/p>\n

\n\tDanielle Pascual: It feels surprising with the way we understand Taylor Swift in 2026, but flashing back to 2022 (the last time she released a movie song),\u00a0and thinking about what her name meant then, I would say no. Swift obviously been a giant pop star for over a decade, but it wasn\u2019t until launching the Eras tour in 2023 that she completely dominated pop culture. Since then, it almost feels guaranteed that any song she releases will debut at No. 1, especially if she follows the same promotion strategy she has done for most of her singles over the past few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Unterberger: It makes sense. As big as those two No. 2-peaking soundtrack smashes of hers were, they weren\u2019t exactly signature songs for Taylor \u2014\u00a0it was a testament to her star power and commercial dominance (in two very different pop eras, no less) that those songs did as well as they did. \u201cI Knew It\u201d is not just one of her best soundtrack songs, and for arguably her biggest film partner yet, but in 2026 she\u2019s just on a different level as a chart superpower than she was even in those prior eras. It would\u2019ve been a little surprising if it didn\u2019t debut at No. 1. <\/p>\n

\t\t2. Does the pairing of Taylor Swift and the\u00a0Toy Story\u00a0franchise make particular sense to you, or would the song have been a similarly sized hit coming from just about any movie?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tEric Renner Brown: I never necessarily thought of Swift and\u00a0Toy Story\u00a0together, but there\u2019s a certain baseline appreciate for Toy Story that most Millennials have. And with\u00a0Toy Story\u00a05\u2018s plot (mild spoiler alert!) foreground Jessie, it makes sense that Swift would find this installment of the franchise particularly appealing. Still, while I think the beloved I.P. and Disney\u2019s clout helped turbocharge this single\u2019s success, given the rarefied pop cultural air Swift occupies, I bet any song she had made for a major film franchise at this juncture in her career would have topped the chart.<\/p>\n

\n\tChristopher Claxton: It makes sense when you look at it through the lens of initials, Taylor Swift and\u00a0Toy Story\u00a0both being \u201cTS.\u201d Even more interesting, two of the franchise\u2019s most iconic characters are a cowboy and cowgirl, which adds a subtle country tie-in that fits her broader storytelling universe. I don\u2019t usually think of Taylor Swift and\u00a0Toy Story\u00a0in the same conversation, but when you zoom out and look at major Disney franchises alongside global pop stars, both \u201cTS\u201des stand firmly on those lists.<\/p>\n

\n\tLyndsey Havens: I think the pairing is a large part of why this song is a hit, because of the story surrounding it, tracing back to Taylor as a little girl. The personal connection and anecdotes she\u2019s shared on Instagram and at the film\u2019s Los Angeles premiere all make the listener buy in that much more \u2014 it\u2019s not\u00a0just\u00a0a song for a movie. Plus, as Swift herself wrote, it\u2019s a \u201cmusical departure and coming home at the same time,\u201d as the single tugs her back toward her country roots, and I don\u2019t know if any other movie (or character other than a cowgirl named Jessie) would have brought her there so naturally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDanielle Pascual: Most likely the latter. Yes,\u00a0Toy Story\u00a0is a franchise everyone already knows and loves and has been a staple in kids\u2019 lives for the past two decades. But if Swift followed the same marketing strategy for any other film \u2014 the real-life billboards, the countdown on her website, the variant dropping, etc. \u2014 I think she\u2019d still be able to cinch the No. 1, especially with the way her fanbase has grown since the Eras tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Unterberger: The Toy Story franchise definitely helps \u2014 both for the connections Swift has to the movies, and because, well, it\u2019s Toy Story. But a brand new Taylor Swift song at this point is just almost always going to have the inside track to pole position on the Hot 100, especially when it\u2019s not competing with any other brand new Taylor Swift songs. <\/p>\n

\t\t3. Do you think that the song will end up being a long-lasting hit, or will it fade along with initial excitement about its (and the movie\u2019s) release?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tEric Renner Brown: Swift just had a long-running No. 1 \u2014 10 weeks straddling either side of the new year with \u201cThe Fate of Ophelia\u201d \u2014 and another No. 1 in February (\u201cOpalite\u201d), both from last fall\u2019s\u00a0The Life of a Showgirl. The culture is awash in Swift, and at times it feels like she is almost competing against herself. She\u2019s set a high bar, and I\u2019m not sure that \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d necessarily stacks up with her other recent hits, purely from a pop hit standpoint. Considering some of the other hits currently impacting the charts, this one simply may not have the juice for a long run, and it doesn\u2019t seem so distinctive that it would make it into a career survey on a theoretical Eras Tour 2 (is that a thing?).<\/p>\n

\n\tChristopher Claxton: I don\u2019t think this one has much staying power once the excitement around the movie fades. There\u2019s a lot of tough competition on the Hot 100 right now, between Drake, Ariana Grande and Ella Langley, and that momentum might be hard to sustain long-term compared to the big hits by those other artists.<\/p>\n

\n\tLyndsey Havens: At least speaking for me personally, it\u2019s a lasting hit. In fact, it\u2019s one of my favorite songs from Swift in a minute. There\u2019s a beautiful ease to it, which is perhaps in part due to that \u201ccoming home\u201d appeal she wrote of in her Instagram caption. And I think because it was written for the film, there\u2019s really no guessing game surrounding its lyrics \u2014 it has the freedom to just exist as a great song. And I think here, that\u2019s a benefit.<\/p>\n

\n\tDanielle Pascual: I love the song, so I hope it\u2019s long-lasting! This is Swift\u2019s first country No. 1 since the\u00a0Red\u00a0era in 2012, and its clearly something current music listeners crave, with the chart dominance of songs by Morgan Wallen, Ella Langley and Shaboozey over the past few years. \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d being a country song combined with Swift\u2019s pop culture prowess seems like a good formula for a long-lasting hit. At the same time, timing is everything \u2014 and with the continued success of Drake\u2019s\u00a0ICEMAN, plus a new Olivia Rodrigo album, its unlikely she\u2019ll continue holding the top spot even though I do think it\u2019ll continue landing elsewhere on the chart for at least a few more weeks.<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Unterberger: I don\u2019t think it\u2019s gonna be a quick-fader. Affection for the song already seems pretty high, and the movie\u2019s not even fully out yet \u2014\u00a0if it gets to soundtrack a big emotional moment that spurs a ton of additional listening, we could be looking at one of the biggest hits of the summer. And if not, well, it\u2019s still a song people really like by the biggest pop star in the world. It\u2019s not disappearing overnight. <\/p>\n

\t\t4. Much has been made about this being Taylor Swift\u2019s quasi-official return to country<\/a> \u2014 how much of a pivot do you actually see this as being, and do you think she\u2019ll continue further down that direction in the next couple years?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tEric Renner Brown: Swift is nothing if not a shrewd observer of cultural trends. She knows when to swim with the current, and even when she decides to swim against it, it feels extremely deliberate \u2013\u00a0and usually pays off in the long run. I\u2019m sure she has seen the surge country has had on the charts in recent years, and especially how well woman-made country music from Beyonc\u00e9 to Ella Langley has fared. Not that I think Swift ever stopped caring about her country roots \u2013\u00a0far from it \u2013\u00a0but if there was ever a savvy time to pivot back to them, it\u2019s now.<\/p>\n

\n\tChristopher Claxton: I think Taylor Swift is an artist who\u2019s always been in tune with trends, and right now country music is beyond hot, so it only makes sense she circles back to where it all started for her. Ella Langley has also been everywhere on the\u00a0Hot 100\u00a0lately, while Beyonc\u00e9 has already reshaped how the Grammys approach country music altogether. So if this really is Taylor\u2019s return to the genre, it feels less like a revisit and more like a calculated move to re-enter a space she\u2019s fully capable of dominating.<\/p>\n

\n\tLyndsey Havens: Sonically, sure. I hear it. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s as big a pivot as it\u2019s being heralded as, but I also think it were a massive leap that may have not landed quite as well in this moment. Like everything Taylor does, I think this was a smart move \u2014 and I definitely think it hints at her continuing in this direction for whatever is coming next.<\/p>\n

\n\tDanielle Pascual: I don\u2019t think so. In my opinion, the only way Swift would truly return to her country roots with new songs is if (hopefully, when) she drops \u201cFrom the Vault\u201d tracks from the hypothetical re-record of her debut album,\u00a0Taylor Swift (Taylor\u2019s Version). Since Swift\u2019s transition into pop, she\u2019s\u00a0only grown in popularity, so why would she go back? Not to say she\u2019d completely abandon her country roots forever, I just don\u2019t see us getting a whole project like\u00a0Fearless\u00a0any time soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Unterberger: I don\u2019t read country from this at all, to be honest \u2014\u00a0or at least, if it was from an artist who lacked the country history that Swift has, I don\u2019t think \u201ccountry\u201d would be the first thing anyone would think to call it. And nah, I doubt it\u2019s gonna be a full pivot taking her all the way back to Nashville, though I could certainly see it being the start of a more stripped-down, acoustic, nostalgic-feeling Taylor Swift era. <\/p>\n

\t\t5. What\u2019s your favorite Taylor Swift movie soundtrack song? \t<\/p>\n

\n\tEric Renner Brown: This one, more or less by default. It\u2019s a nice song for a heartwarming franchise and nicely evokes her roots. I\u2019m excited to see how it\u2019s used in the movie!<\/p>\n

\n\tChristopher Claxton: I would say \u201cCrazier\u201d from the\u00a0Hannah Montana: The Movie\u00a0soundtrack, since\u00a0Hannah Montana\u00a0is one of my favorite franchises.<\/p>\n

\n\tLyndsey Havens: It\u2019s a tie between \u201cCrazier\u201d from\u00a0Hannah Montana: The Movie, mostly for the nostalgia, and \u201cSafe & Sound\u201d with the Civil Wars for the\u00a0Hunger Games,\u00a0because it\u2019s such a haunting song that has very much continued to haunt me nearly 15 years later.<\/p>\n

\n\tDanielle Pascual: Honestly, \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You\u201d is up there, but \u201cToday Is a Fairytale\u201d slightly surpasses it, mainly because of how nostalgic it makes me feel. \u00a0Her\u00a0Valentine\u2019s\u00a0Day\u00a0song came out when I was in middle school and obsessed with the idea of love without having experienced it. Swift whimsically captured that sort of uncomplicated puppy love that any teenager imagines a\u00a0relationship to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew Unterberger: Love this one, love \u201cFairytale,\u201d but gotta be \u201cSafe and Sound.\u201d Those harmonies with the Civil Wars during the wordless breakdown section! <\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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