It’s been more than a month since Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce exchanged vows in Madison Square Garden, and focus is now being shifted from her wedding to her music.
That was certainly the case when Swift appeared on the popular radio show “iHeartCountry House Party” over the weekend.
Songwriting Synergy
During the interview, Swift opened up about her process when writing “I Knew It, I Knew You” for “Toy Story 5.”
As she explained, the lyrics aren’t actually as straightforward as they might seem — particularly when she sings, “I knew you / Through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer.”
“The word daze is spelled ‘d-a-z-e’ in the lyrics, but you could also, if you wanted to think of it as days ‘d-a-y-s’ you could perceive it as that,” Swift explained, as reported by Us Weekly.
“But, I thought of it, like, a childhood daze you look back and you see this sort of blurry, beautiful memory that’s kind of blurry at the edges and blades of the grass in summer that hearkens back to childhood and playing and using your imagination,” she continued.
Both Literal and Symbolic Meanings
GettySwift continued by pointing to another lyric in the song: “Parachutes / For the free fall of being younger / I memorized the sound of your bare footsteps.”
“There’s the added meaning of they’re toys, they can only see up to the height of blades of grass,” she said of her inspiration for that set of lyrics.
“‘Parachutes for the free fall of being younger.’ There’s the actual parachute army toys in ‘Toy Story,’ as well as symbolically, somebody who helps you grow up, helps your landings be softer,” she explained.
Following in the Footsteps of Randy Newman
The song was written for “Toy Story” fan favorite Jessie, and Swift admitted she felt a connection.
“For Jessie, I feel like the line, ‘I watched you drive around the bend for what I thought would be the last time I saw my friend,’ that hits me really hard because that movie just broke my heart,” Swift said while appearing in a “20/20” special about the film’s premiere, as reported by Us Weekly.
“So I’m really happy to, like, give her a happy moment,” Swift added.
During that interview, Swift also shared her thrill at following in the footsteps of fellow singer-songwriter Randy Newman, who’s been writing music for the film franchise since the first “Toy Story” movie back in 1995.
“I felt wonderful knowing that I had Randy’s blessing to write for this film, given that I’m the first songwriter to get to partake in the ‘Toy Story’ world outside of Randy,” Swift added.
Meanwhile, Swift also admitted that she was a longtime fan of the “Toy Story” franchise, and was particularly taken by the fifth one.
“I was absolutely dazzled by [the movie]. It is my favorite ‘Toy Story’ movie,” she confessed. “Don’t mind me, just really liked the movie.”
