Taylor Swift Drops Haunting New Single ‘Carolina’ from ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’

Taylor Swift’s new song “Carolina” is here!

Swift dropped the chilling tune from the “Where the Crawdads Sing” soundtrack at midnight.

The thriller, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, is about a girl named Kya abandoned in the marshes of North Carolina. She raises herself, and learns to read with the help of a local boy. Kya grows up to write nature almanacs, but the story takes a turn when she is accused of murder. The film was adapted from a book by the same name.

Taylor shared on Instagram, "About a year and half ago I wrote a song about an incredible story, the story of a girl who always lived on the outside, looking in. Figuratively and literally. The juxtaposition of her loneliness and independence. Her longing and her stillness. Her curiosity and fear, all tangled up. Her persisting gentleness… and the world’s betrayal of it. I wrote this one alone in the middle of the night and then @aarondessner and I meticulously worked on a sound that we felt would be authentic to the moment in time when this story takes place. I made a wish that one day you would hear it. ‘Carolina’ is out now 🥺"

In a promo for the film, producer Reese Witherspoon praised "Carolina," saying, "Taylor Swift was so inspired by the book she wrote an original song, based on these characters. We're so lucky to have it on the film. It is haunting, it is beautiful."

In the song, Taylor pays homage to the story, singing, “And you didn't see me here / No, they never did see me here / And she's in my dreams,” later adding, “And there are places I will never, ever go / And things that only Carolina will ever know."

When the trailer dropped in March, the Grammy winner wrote on Instagram, “’Where The Crawdads Sing’ is a book I got absolutely lost in when I read it years ago. As soon as I heard there was a film in the works starring the incredible @daisyedgarjones and produced by the brilliant @reesewitherspoon, I knew I wanted to be a part of it from the musical side. I wrote the song ‘Carolina’ alone and asked my friend @aarondessner to produce it. I wanted to create something haunting and ethereal to match this mesmerizing story. You’ll hear it fully soon, but for now check out the @crawdadsmovie trailer for a clip!”