Taylor Swift Discusses Double Meaning of I Knew It, I Knew You Lyrics in Rare Country Radio Appearance

Taylor Swift joined an “iHeartCountry House Party” for an interview on BOB 94.9 FM out of Harrisburg, Pa., on Saturday night (Sept. 5).

Swift returned to country airplay this summer with “I Knew It, I Knew You,” the original song she penned for Toy Story 5, which was the topic of conversation on Saturday. The station is based about an hour west of Swift’s childhood home in Wyomissing, where she lived before moving with her family to Nashville as a teenager.

Although the station stated the appearance would start at 7 p.m. ET, Swift’s voice did not air until about 7:45 p.m., with sparse Q&A clips broadcast overall as it neared 10 p.m.

The 45-minute lead-up featured a modern country playlist including Morgan Wallen and Post Malone’s “I Ain’t Comin’ Back,” Lainey Wilson featuring John Mayer’s “Phone, Keys, Wallet,” Kip Moore’s “Somethin’ Bout a Truck” and Russell Dickerson’s “Worth Your Wild” before “I Knew It, I Knew You” played. That was followed by Cole Swindell’s “Single Saturday Night,” Thomas Rhett’s “After All the Bars Are Closed” and the Swift classic “Teardrops on My Guitar,” leading into the first question of the night.

Swift discussed her contribution to the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, focusing on the franchise’s musical legacy. Swift stated that “it has a sonic world that Randy Newman has crafted so beautifully,” and added that “I Knew It, I Knew You” received approval from the “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” creator: “He told me he likes it, which is really all I need to know.”

Tracks by Sam Hunt, Jelly Roll, Hudson Westbrook, John Morgan, Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen and Zach Top played before host Wayne D returned to Swift, who offered insight on having a successful songwriting session two decades into her career.

“One thing I’ve learned over the many years of studio sessions and writing sessions and working with people collaboratively is your energy and attitude you bring into the room can affect absolutely everything about the day,” Swift said, adding, “If you come in and act like you don’t want to be there, everyone else is gonna pick up on that.”

“Be enthusiastic about being able to be making art every day that you can make art,” Swift advised.

Additional country songs aired before Swift revealed that she wrote “I Knew It, I Knew You” with words that could support two interpretations.

“I love that the lyrics of this song are really being delved into by the fans. There are several lyrics that have more than one meaning to them,” Swift said of “I Knew It, I Knew You.”

“You only have so long in a song to convey and surmise and sum up this entire film [Toy Story 5] that people just watched. Sometimes you’ll try to have a double meaning in a line,” she continued.

Swift cited specific examples from the opening lines: “I knew you through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer/ Parachutes for the free fall of being younger.”

“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. I thought of it as like a childhood daze of you look back and you see this sort of blurry, beautiful memory that’s kind of blurry at the edges,” Swift explained.

“Blades of the grass in summer, that harkens back to childhood and playing and using your imagination, but also there’s the added meaning of they’re toys,” she said. “They can only see up to the height of blades of grass.”

“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,” said Swift.

Swift spoke about her country roots in a recent conversation with Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. at the Grammy Museum.

“The further along this path I get, I want to honor them more and more, and I feel more and more tied and more loyal to them — the people that shaped who I am as an artist and as a writer,” she said at the August 18 event, which focused on her songwriting and featured an acoustic piano mashup of “I Knew It, I Knew You,” “August” and “All Too Well.”

Swift’s most recent original full-length studio album was 2025’s The Life of a Showgirl.

Her next original full-length studio album, which she has not yet discussed, will be the 13th of her career, excluding her four re-recorded “Taylor’s Version” releases issued prior to obtaining full ownership of her work last year.