The Taylor Swift cat song is finally here. We’ve all been wanting one, if we’re quite honest. “Beautiful Ghosts,” from the soundtrack to the upcoming Cats movie, is co-written with Broadway legend Andrew Lloyd Webber and is as sweetly poetic and cinematic as you might expect. “I never knew that I’d love this world they let me into,” Swift laments.
“Beautiful Ghosts” will not be performed by Swift in the actual film – that duty goes to English ballerina Francesca Hayward, who plays a cat named Victoria. Swift’s version is expected to play under the end credits, and it’s aching magic is melancholic yet utterly beautiful. It’s as if “Safe & Sound” was sent through a catty Instagram filter.
The only conceivable detraction from such a flash of glittering grandeur is Swift’s British accent on particular lines. “All that I wanted was to be wanted,” she sings. The accent is peppered in seemingly random moments that jolt you awake; it’s not especially deflating in the long run, but it is noticeable misfire that feels silly, even given the film’s story.
Listen to “Beautiful Ghosts” below.