Working Title Films / Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures
Taylor Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s song “Beautiful Ghosts” is out right now.
The dynamic duo collaborated on the track for the upcoming movie adaptation of Cats, which hits theaters in December.
Swift, who plays Bombalurina in the film, wrote the original song with Webber for the character of Victoria, portrayed by Francesca Hayward. In late October, T.Swift took to Instagram to announce the song, telling her fans, “I was so excited when @andrewlloydwebber asked me to write an original song with him for @catsmovie. ‘Beautiful Ghosts’ is performed in the film by the extraordinary @frankiegoestohayward who plays ‘Victoria’ and reprised by Dame Judi Dench (!!!!!) who plays ‘Old Deuteronomy.'”
“When I read the screenplay, the first thing I said was, ‘We have to have a song for Victoria,’ the song is now an incredibly important and central part of the whole film,” Webber said of the track, which was just released at midnight.
Cats director Tom Hooper couldn’t have been more excited about Swift’s “Beautiful Ghosts” song lyrics.
“What I couldn’t believe was the extraordinary beauty of these lyrics that Taylor had written,” Hooper said in a featurette for the track. “It was as if someone had come into the film I was in the middle of making and read the script, met the actors, seen the world and reflected back to me a profound understanding of what we are trying to do with the movie. It was utterly thrilling.”
While Swift’s character doesn’t sing the song in the film, the Grammy winner does sing the studio recording for the movie’s soundtrack.
“Follow me home, if you dare to,” Swift’s lyrics begin. “I wouldn’t know, where to lead you/Should I take chances? When no one took chances on me.”
The track’s release comes just hours after Swift issued a public plea for fans’ help in resolving the ongoing battle against Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta regarding her master recordings. According to the entertainer, her upcoming performance at the 2020 American Music Awards (where she planned to sing a medley of past hits) and an upcoming Netflix documentary about Swift are currently in jeopardy because Braun and Borchetta won’t allow her to use the music they now own.
Since then, several of Taylor’s close friends and peers within the music industry have spoken out in support of her.
Listen to “Beautiful Ghosts” above. Cats hits theaters on Dec. 20.
(E! News and Universal Pictures are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)