With the release of her 10th studio album, Midnights, queen of Easter Eggs Taylor Swift has been a little too kind – dropping hints to not only different aspects of the “Midnights” era, but also to what’s coming next. One of the ways she does this best is through her music videos and best believe self-written and self-directed “Bejeweled” is no exception. This video polishes up real nice!
Arguably one of her campest and most fantastical music videos to date, she made the whole place shimmer. And what’s a girl gonna do but spend hours dissecting every little part of the music video, for you! So here is every Easter Egg I’ve found in this video, both visually and lyrically, after watching it approximately 13 million times.
- Taylor’s Folklore Hairdo in the Opening
-
0:05: At the very start of the music video, Taylor is dressed plainly in a wheat-colored farm dress and her hair is in a milkmaid style, reminiscent of her black and white Folklore photoshoot that practically broke the internet. At this point in the video, she is also cleaning up, perhaps hinting that she felt the third-person story telling of the Folklore era was her way of avoiding cleaning up any more publicity scandals of her own.
- The Band HAIM’s Appearance as the Ugly Step-Sisters
-
0:07: Not only are the HAIM sisters some of Taylor’s best friends, but they are also her previous collaborators on both “No Body, No Crime” from her album Evermore and “Gasoline,” off HAIM’s Women in Music: Part III.
- The Sisters’ Conversation May Be a Nod to the Kardashian-West Feud
-
0:10: Alana Haim chimes in about “contouring” her abs, a makeup technique that Kim Kardashian made famous in recent years. Este’s mention of “diamond nipple tassels” reminded me of the infamous clip of Kim crying that she had lost her diamond earrings in the ocean. Danielle mentioning that rather than just “looking hot”, that there is a “talent competition” which may hint at the heated topic of whether the Kardashian’s have talent or are just famous for being famous. All of this, of course, is to win the “keys to the castle”, maybe the same keys from “I don’t like your kingdom keys, they once belonged to me” from Reputation’s first music video, “Look What You Made Me Do”. Later on, Danielle’s character says, “Bye, snake!” to Taylor, a clear callback to when Kim and her fans trolled Taylor’s Twitter and Instagram accounts with snake emojis.
- An Instrumental Version of “Enchanted” is Playing in the Background
-
0:15: This is the first hint that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is coming soon!
- The HAIM Sisters’ Gowns
-
0:20: Standing in order, Danielle’s is red (Red (Taylor’s Version)), Este’s is covered in flowers that look almost like jewels (“Bejeweled”) and Alana’s is a deep purple (one of many hints that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the next rerecording).
- Laura Dern’s Monologue and Outfit
-
0:45: Actress Laura Dern is decked out in an intricate green gown: a color that has largely been attributed to Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut album (along with teal). She goes on to say that a marriage proposal is the “single most defining thing a lady could hope to achieve in her lifetime”, referencing Taylor’s lyric in track one of Midnights, “Lavender Haze”:
All they keep asking me (all they keep asking me)
Is if I’m gonna be your bride
The only kind of girl they see (the only kind of girl they see)
Is a one night or a wife.
Maybe Taylor is saying that she once believed this when she was young, but now she has grown up and realized her own value. Laura holds up rings on both hands, gloating about how many proposals she has had, possibly hinting at the media’s obsession with Taylor Swift’s dating habits. Laura’s line, “Speak not, you tacky, tired wench,” is also an obvious reference to “Speak Now”.
- “I’m Gonna Be Hungover”
-
1:59: Now I’m not exactly sure if this counts as an Easter Egg, since Taylor heard this and then included it in the MV rather than the other way around, but this little “I’m gonna be hungover” bit was originally posted on TikTok by HAIM on their way to the Oscars, and the sound went viral. Even though it isn’t a traditional Easter Egg, they did make the post on March 28th, a.k.a. 3/28, and 3 + 2+ 8 DOES add up to 13. A stretch? Maybe.
- The Mantlepiece
-
Republic Records -
2:14: As Taylor looks over at the mantelpiece, we can clearly see a Renaissance-style portrait of Jack Antonoff (lead singer of Bleachers, Taylor’s close friend, co-writer and her sole co-producer on all of the Midnights album), surrounded by cats! There is also an empty frame which could be referencing the fact that Taylor felt framed by the Kim and Ye phone call, that she feels as though she has no privacy because her whole life is publicized or may even hint to a punched-out mirror, like the “Anti-Hero” lyric. “I stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror”. By the mantle, there is also a spindle and yarn, breaking from the “Cinderella”-esque opener, and into “Sleeping Beauty”, hinting that she’s felt helpless in terms of the media in the past.
- The Dress she Sews is Selena Gomez’s?
-
2:17: While this is just my speculation, the dress she is shown sewing looks an awful lot like Selena Gomez’s 2016 Grammy dress, which wouldn’t be surprising as they are very close friends, often appearing on each other’s Instagram and mentioned in interviews.
- “Exile Ends” stopwatch
-
2:23: This may be referencing Taylor’s collaboration “exile” with Bon Iver, from her 2020 album Folklore, the gold stopwatch’s hands are pointed towards midnight, and the countdown lingers longest on “02”. Perhaps it’s a hint that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is coming December 2nd? The outside of the stopwatch looks like a seashell, too, and while this may be referencing “Snow on the Beach”, many Swifties think this could be a reference to how she revealed the lyrics to her 2012 Hunger Games tie-in single “Safe and Sound”, which was during the Speak Now era.
- The Elevator
-
02:30 The Art Deco-style pattern and black-and-gold color scheme reminds me of her ‘Don’t Blame Me’ jumpsuit from the Reputation Stadium tour!
- The Cape is Giving Us Déjà Vu
-
2:30: The cape Taylor wears in the elevator calls back to both the cape she wore in the 2017 “Ready for It” music video, as well as the 2020 “Willow” music video. She knows exactly how to remind us of her past, while keeping us in the present. Also, the way she leans into the corner of the elevator at 2:34 is an almost direct parallel to an alternate poster for her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana”, wherein she’s decked out in gold, leaning against the corner of an elevator.
- Elevator Buttons Correspond with Previous and Upcoming Eras
-
2:40: For the 13th spotted Easter Egg, I had to mention the colored elevator buttons and how they relate to Taylor’s previous eras. From left to right, bottom to top, there are buttons numbered 1-13. Each button corresponds with a previous album, one is a greenish-teal for her debut, another is bright pink for Lover, and so on. What’s really important to note is that the 13th button is purple, coming after the amber, the red and the sparkly blue buttons (representing Fearless (TV), Red (TV) and Midnights, respectively). This indicates that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) will be her 13th official album. This is seemingly confirmed as she hits the 3rd button (Speak Now), which takes her to her next destination.
- “Snow on the Beach” Reference?
-
3:03: As Taylor emerges from the elevator, the diamonds falling into place look just like snow on the beach (the 4th track on the Midnights album, which features Lana Del Rey). The floating diamonds also are lit almost like mirrorballs, and if you’re a Swiftie, you know exactly why that piqued my interest.
- Her Jumpsuit’s Jewels Correspond to Her Eras
-
3:12: As she walks, her leotard is slowly filled with different gemstones, in a variety of colors, each representing the colors of her previous albums (actually very similar to the leotard that BFF Selena Gomez wore in her “Love You Like a Love Song” music video, possibly hinting at an upcoming collab on SN(TV) vault). The corresponding album gems are also most definitely a hint for her Eras Tour! Her necklace seems to be the extravagant version of the “Bejeweled” bracelet she sold in her online store in the first Midnights merch drop. Interestingly, as the necklace is placed on her, she sings “I can reclaim the land” – maybe hinting at her battle with Scooter Braun and how she’s re-recording all of her albums in order to own them. Her earrings at 3:29 are made of two gems, one smaller, red one and a larger, purple one underneath. Perhaps this also hints at Red (TV) coming before Speak Now (TV), and maybe it implies that SNTV could be even bigger, or longer than Red TV, which had 30 tracks.
- 1989 Hints Everywhere!!!
-
3:30: Next up, the elevator takes Taylor to the fifth floor (and her fifth album) where the number of hints is unmistakable. At 3:32, her Hollywood glamour look is unquestionably a callback to 1989’s “Wildest Dreams” music video, wherein her hairstyle was not only identical, but as she emerges from the limousine, she has a white fur shoulder wrap – it may even be the same one! It also is extremely reminiscent of her 2014 Met Gala look.
- Fishbowl from Lover and Martini Glass from Midnights
-
At 4:05, we are given a wholesome tidbit from Taylor! In her 2019 titular music video for “Lover”, Taylor Swift dives into a human-sized fishbowl as a metaphor for her life becoming unmanageably sized, how she feels like she’s hyper-visible, drowning in the fame and public scrutiny. However, the martini glasses in this music video are shallow, she’s having fun in them, and she is — most importantly — no longer underwater.
- Guest Star Dita Von Teese as the Fairy Goddess
-
At 3:36 we see famous burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese start a routine which is quickly copied by Taylor, suggesting that Taylor is excited to learn from someone older, rather than casting them aside like much of society does, like she fears would happen in Red bonus track “Nothing New”:
She’ll know the way, and then she’ll say she got the map from me
I’ll say I’m happy for her, then I’ll cry myself to sleep. - Mean Music Video references
-
4:30: The next scene shows Taylor sitting on a large gold clock, on the hand pointing to the number 3, referring to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) coming soon, as well as Midnights (3am Version), the deluxe version of Midnights that came out mere hours after the original album. The purple and gold set made me think immediately of her 2011 MV for “Mean”, where at the end, she is performing on a Broadway-style stage, surrounded by glowing amber and purple visual elements, similarly framed by a red-velvet curtain. Colored spotlights also correspond with previous albums! It’s almost like Taylor is referencing the fact that she is now the person she once dreamed she’d be, sparkling and “living in a big old city”. It also looks just like one of the sets from the Speak Now world tour!
- More Guest Stars!
-
Arguably one of the world’s most famous celebrity makeup artists, Pat McGrath appears as “Queen Pat”. Zoe Kravitz, who Taylor gives credit for co-writing both “Lavender Haze” and “Karma”, portrays the princess, and another songwriter, Sam Dew, is the prince.
- Taylor’s Marie Antoinette Outfit
-
At 5:07, Taylor is seen after winning the competition and is in a pink and blue get-up in the style of Marie Antoinette. Not to be completely obvious, but pink and blue do make purple. Something more concrete is that her two heart-shaped hairclips say “SN” for Speak Now!
- “She Ghosted”
-
This may be a reference to the lyric from Midnights’ “Anti-Hero”:
When my depression works the graveyard shift
All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room.
The key she holds may be alluding to the Vault Tracks and the key merch that she came out with (i.e., the Fearless necklace).
- Long Live Instrumental
-
At 5:15 Taylor emerges onto a balcony – almost identical to the one she used on her SN tour for “Love Story” – as an instrumental version of Speak Now’s “Long Live” can be heard in the background. Her hair clips have now changed to hearts that read “TS”. Text on the screen reads, “but kept the castle,” hinting maybe to her re-recordings or to the fact that Taylor is still the music industry, no matter how old she gets—a fear she voiced noticeably in “Miss Americana”.
- The Castle
-
5:30: Zooming out, we see that she is in a large medieval castle, and the dragons that land on it may similarly be a reference to her Speak Now era (“I had the time of my life, fighting dragons with you,” is a lyric from “Long Live”). As they land on the castle, the bricks fall to echo Reputation (“My castle crumbled overnight,” from “Call It What You Want”). In the top left of the screen, the pink moon echoes “blood moon lit” from bonus track “Glitch”. In the bottom left of the screen, we can see the Longpond cabin from the Longpond Studio Sessions from Folklore and her Disney Plus exclusive.
- “Bejeweled” MV Release Date
-
Perhaps the most important Easter Egg of all, the “Bejeweled” music video was released on October 25th – the original release date of Speak Now. I think it’s safe to say that Taylor is a mastermind, and that Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is coming sooner than we think.
Safe to say, Taylor Swift has been one of the most culturally significant superstars since her rise to fame with “Tim McGraw” in 2006. She is able to create music and art alongside it, something so visually appealing that I can watch it twenty-two times over, and probably still have missed some Easter Eggs! While it may seem awfully likely that Speak Now will be the next rerecording, with Taylor, you simply never know, but isn’t that part of what truly makes her shimmer?