Taylor Swift 'Bejeweled' Easter Eggs Decoded—Because It's Time to Teach Some Lessons
"Bejeweled" is the second Taylor Swift Midnights track to get a music video, and she promised it would be full of glitter and Easter eggs for her fans—as well as celebrity cameos.
The video dropped at midnight (of course) on Oct. 25, 2022.
The "music movie" has a Cinderella theme, with Swift playing the titular princess, the Haim sisters starring as her stepsisters; "Oscar winner Laura Dern" (as Swift calls her) stars as Swift's evil stepmother. Jack Antonoff and makeup artist Pat McGrath appear in the video as well, as does Dita Von Teese as the "fairy goddess," because Swift felt a fairy godmother title didn't do her justice.
Because we know you're looking for them, here are all the Taylor Swift "Bejeweled" Easter eggs you may have missed.
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Taylor Swift "Bejeweled" Easter Eggs
Swift may have hinted at "Bejweled" at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards in August, when she rocked a seriously bejeweled dress and matching makeup.
Some Swifties think the outfit as an Easter egg in itself ahead of the track list reveal.
The Haim sisters, some of Swift's BFFs, play her wicked stepsisters, one of whom boasted about nipple tassels she bought for the ball as Swift miserably scrubs a floor. Lady Danielle wants the ring, Lady Este wants the title, Lady Alana wants the d**k, while Swift wants the castle keys. They call her a snake as they leave for the ball, a callback to her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. They also sing their "hungover" song famous from a TikTok they recorded.
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Swift said directing Dern for the video was one of the "easiest things [she's] ever done." Of course. That's why she's "Oscar-winning Laura Dern!"
Dern's character of the wicked stepmother says she poisoned all the other maidens in the village. She also mentions Swift was "exiled" to their home, a reference to the folklore track "exile" featuring Bon Iver. The stepmother also scolds Swift, telling her, "Speak not," a reference to Speak Now.
Swift's braid in the opening scene may also be a callback to the folklore and evermore era:
Swift wore a similar styles when she went full cottage-core for her two 2020 albums.
Additionally, one Easter egg you can't see but can hear: An instrumental of "Enchanted" playing in the opening scene.
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As the music begins and she sings she's been "a little too kind," she turns her head and stares at a painting of Antonoff surrounded by cats—her favorite.
A locket appears shaped similar to a seashell (maybe a Little Mermaid reference about regaining her voice?). Inside there is a clock and the words "exile ends."
Next, Swift gets sparkly in an elevator reminiscent of the one in her "Delicate" video, all while rocking a hood evocative of her "Willow," "Endgame" and "...Ready for It?" looks.
She hits a button to go to the third floor. The button is purple, like her gown on the Speak Now cover—which is her third album. Fans interpreted it to mean that her next re-recorded release will be Speak Now (Taylor's Version).
Once she's off she gets further bejeweled herself.
One of Swift's necklaces in the "Bejeweled" video has multi-colored gemstones similar to a "Bejeweled" bracelet in her merch store. The bracelet has 12 different stones, each representing a different Swift album, as well as an hour on a clock for the Midnights theme.
Swift splashes around with Von Teese in giant martini glasses, perhaps a wink and a nod to her liquor references throughout the Midnights album.
We then see the elevator go to the 13th floor, which is infamously Swift's lucky number.
We then see Swift's performance in the ball's talent show, which involves a dance number with a clock theme. Fans noticed the clock was set to 3:00, which they interpreted as another nod to Speak Now.
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Her performance in the video impresses "Queen Pat," who's pictures with portraits of Zo? Kravitz and Sam Dew, who are co-writers on "Lavender Haze."
Antonoff's prince is forced to propose to "house wench" Swift, who ghosts him—a theme from "Anti-Hero." Her look is reminiscent of Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette in Sofia Coppola's film about the doomed French queen.
The video closes with Swift keeping the castle, which gets surrounded by dragons as an instrumental version of "Long Live"—once more, from Speak Now—plays.
The song "Bejeweled" is about being underappreciated by a lover and thus losing one's sparkle—and rebelling against that by shimmering and shining solo.
The "moonstone" lyric harkens to one of the Midnights limited edition vinyls in Moonstone Blue.