On..."I Knew It, I Knew You"

Y'all, I did it. I made it to midnight last night. And I got the chance to listen to the song 4 or 5 times before I finally passed out.

I managed to throw some incoherent initial thoughts up on Instagram, but long story short: this was ✨not✨ what I expected, but in the best way.

I think it's fair to say that the general expectation for Taylor's song was something similar to Sarah McLachlan's rendition of "When She Loved Me" in Toy Story 2 -- a contribution to a scene that reaches what Daniel Goldmark calls "maudlin melodrama." Looking at The Tortured Poets Department, folklore & evermore and even (or especially) songs like "All Too Well" on the country-pop Red, this is definitely well within Taylor's songwriting capabilities.

But we didn't get that.

We got what is, to me, a more uplifting song, not necessarily about grief, but more about faith, memory, and reassurance.

And, as I was drifting off to sleep last night, my main thought was: "this song makes me smile."

Now comes the fun part: what do we think this song means for the film. (NB: This is all speculation, based primarily on the lyrics of the song, past Toy Story songs, and what we know about the film so far. I've also stayed mainly off social media so far, so these are all my own thoughts. Not original ones, I'm sure, but they're mine. Will I be right? Maybe. I sometimes am. But even if I'm not, it's still a fun thought exercise.)

I. Music & Pixar

One thing that its important to clarify right off the bat: Pixar doesn't really do musicals. Yes, they will include music in their films; but they neither (1) structure their films as musicals, where the songs serve specific functions in the movie (e.g., introduce all the characters or the main tension, like "La Familia Madrigal" in Encanto or "Ex Wives" in Six) nor (2) are associated with music the way Disney animated films are. As Goldmark says:

Pixar worked hard from the start to distinguish their output both before and after being acquired by Disney in 2006. One such difference involved Pixar's assiduously maintaining a strict 'no musicals' policy, which at least allowed the studio to maintain its fundamental difference from Disney" (227).

The difference between the 2 studios can essentially be boiled down to:

Pixar = original stories; "what if X had feelings"; male protagonists; no songs.

Disney = adaptations of well-known stories; fairy-tale romances; female protagonists; ALL THE MUSICAL NUMBERS

(Essentially. Yes, I know there are exceptions that prove the rule.)

II. Music & Toy Story

Music in the Toy Story films is unequivocally linked with Randy Newman. He's composed the score for all 4 Toy Story films (and other Disney/Pixar films as well, including The Princess and the Frog the music for which is criminally underrated, IMO) and, per Wikipedia, he "has earned at least one Academy Award nomination for seven of the nine films he has scored for Pixar."

Looking specifically at the Toy Story films, the four songs that have been nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars -- and which are, I think it's fair to say, most closely and famously associated with the films -- are:

1. Toy Story (1995) -- "You've Got A Friend In Me" -- written & perf. by Randy Newman ➡️ Plays: in all 4 Toy Story films so far, but in the first one specifically, when Andy plays with Woody at the beginning of the film.

2. Toy Story 2 (1999) -- "When She Loved Me" -- written by Randy Newman & perf. by Sarah McLachlan ➡️ Plays: during the flashback montage of Jessie + Emily's relationship, ending when Jessie is left in a box to be donated

3. Toy Story 3 (2010) -- "We Belong Together" -- written & perf. by Randy Newman ➡️ Plays: over end credits of the film [Sidebar: I struggled to remember this song, and was surprised that this song won the Oscar. I think it may have been a Retrospective Oscar -- like you should have won for "When She Loved Me" (but also Phil Collins wrote BANGERS for the Tarzan soundtrack), so here ya go -- because I don't think this is a stronger song than "I See The Light" from Tangled.]

4. Toy Story 4 (2019) -- "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" -- written & perf. by Randy Newman ➡️ Plays: over a montage of Woody saving Forky [Sidebar: I honestly struggled to remember this song as well.]

While Randy Newman may have written additional songs for Toy Story 5, which may well be submitted for Oscar contention, I think it's safe to say that "I Knew It, I Knew You" will be added to this list. (Which would make it the only song Randy Newman was not involved with...)

One final point of context -- the subject and audiences of these songs. Like many texts, interpreting these songs is ✨highly✨ dependent on a listener's own personal, lived experiences. Randy Newman has said "When She Loved Me" is mainly about a toy and her owner, but there are other aspects from his personal life. So, if the songs mean something different to you, you're not wrong. As I tell my students, there's no one, Right way to interpret a text.

Just for comparison's sake:

1. "You've Got A Friend in Me": Woody ➡️ Andy (/ a kid) [Specifically in the first film, although I think it could also be Woody ⬅️➡️ Buzz)

2. "When She Loved Me: Jessie ➡️ Emily (or, about Emily)

3. "We Belong Together": Toys ➡️ Andy (when he leaves for college --and-- Toys ➡️ Each Other (after all that happens at Sunnyside)

4. "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away": Woody ➡️ Forky

Two main threads: all written by Randy Newman, all from the perspective of a Toy Character. Since this song is written by Taylor, there's no way to tell, for sure, if this pattern will hold, but it is worth noting, especially before the film comes out.

III. Lyrical Notes

I'm going to hold off on a full lyrical analysis of the song until the film is released -- because context matters -- but I want to highlight some of the things I did note:

• First -- the line that immediately stood out to me was: "there were times we could fight like brothers..." Which, given the supposed focus on Jessie & female characters, seems an odd phrase. Could be nothing. Could be Taylor just liking that word better (like with "Our Song"). Could be significant.

• Second -- maybe this is nothing but an over-analytical English major and writing professor hyperfixating on one word but--- ---it sounds like in the first chorus, Taylor sings "I knew ya" -- then shifts back to "I know you" in the second verse & chorus, and finally returns to "I knew ya" at the end of the song. Again, does this mean anything? Meh. We'll see. But we know that Taylor plays with POV in her songs -- take "Opalite" as a brief, recent example. The first chorus is "But my Mama told me / It's alright / You were dancing through the lightning strikes.../Never made no one like you before": from the POV of a parent talking to a child. The second chorus shifts slightly to become: "And that's when I told you / It's alright / You were dancing through the lightning strikes.../Never met no one like you before" -- which I read as one partner (Taylor) talking to another (Travis). And then we end with a more universal final chorus (maybe Taylor talking to her fans / general listeners). That could be happening here. Maybe this song occurs later in the film, near the end, as we see various characters returning: maybe the first verse + chorus are played over Jessie + Someone and the second chorus reflects Buzz and Woody, and the third chorus broadens back out.

• Finally -- the second verse, with the notable exception of the 'brothers' line seems to be so explicitly Jessie-coded: "I watched you drive around the bend for What I thought would be the last time I saw my friend" Especially given that the music "video" on Spotify is tiny Taylor dressed like a cowgirl, I think we're supposed to make the connection to Jessie being left behind by Emily in the Donations box. But the toys have been left behind and separated before -- and based on what we know of the plot of this film so far, it seems like that's going to happen again.

Hmm. This is much longer than I anticipated. I might break this up into two parts...Part 2, coming soon.