Taylor Swift unveiled the next visual for her song “Bejeweled“ from her new Midnights album.
In what Swift has described as “music movie,” released to coincide with her new tenth studio album, Swift puts a twist on the fairytale of Cinderella in the new visual. Laura Dern, HAIM, Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, Dita Von Teese and Pat McGrath starred alongside Swift in the visual.
The music movie, which Swift wrote and directed, opens with Swift’s “House Wench Taylor,” cleaning the floor — with an instrumental of her song “Enchanted” playing in the background — as she listens to her stepsisters (portrayed by HAIM) and “stepmommy” (portrayed by Laura Dern) discuss how anyone who wins the talent competition will get keys to their own castle and a marriage proposal from the prince.
“Oh, I simply adore a proposal. The single most defining thing a lady could hope to achieve in her lifetime,” Dern’s stepmommy says.
After the HAIM’s stepsisters begin to mock Swift about not being able to go, Swift says, “Do you have honestly have to do this whole entire verbal abuse thing every time you leave the house?” to which Dern throws the insult, “speak not, tired tacky wench, clean!”
“The prince would never have anything to do with that little harlot again. He tired of her quickly didn’t he? Or should I say, swiftly?” Dern’s stepmommy quips leaving Swift to thank her for reciting a joke that “never gets old.”
After they leave, Swift’s time in exile ends where she transports o magical floors as she transforms herself amid sparkling jewels — even performing alongside Dita Von Teese in giant cocktail glasses. After Swift wins the talent competition, it is revealed that she “ghosted” the prince (portrayed by Antonoff) but kept the castle for herself.
When announcing the premiere of “Bejeweled,” Swift told fans the “wild” and “whimsical” movie was created specifically for “beloved fans who have paved this shimmering path.” “Midnight, what a storied and fabled hour … On this sparkling evening I’ll be releasing my twist on a fairytale we all know. The one about the girl and her step sisters and clock striking 12,” Swift wrote on social media.
“Bejeweled,” which Swift co-wrote with Antonoff, Swift sings about feeling under appreciated in a relationship. “Best believe I’m still bejeweled; when I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer,” Swift sings. “And when I meet the band, They ask, ‘Do you have a man? I could still say, ‘I don’t remember.’”
In a teaser released during Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video, Swift revealed that Midnights would be accompanied by album visuals called “Midnights music movies.” For the upcoming videos, Swift collaborated with cinematographer Rina Yang, who she previously worked with on the “All Too Well” 10-minute short film.
The “Bejeweled” visual marks the second music movie from the Midnights album following the release of “Anti-Hero.”
Following its’ Oct. 21 release, Spotify announced that Swift’s album is officially the most-streamed album in a single day in the platform’s history. Apple Music announced that Swift also broke the all-time record for the biggest album released in Spatial Audio and broke the record for the biggest pop album by first-day streams.
The original 13-track album was accompanied by a 3am Edition that was released hours after the album dropped, with seven additional songs added to the trackless. For the Midnights album, Swift worked with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, with William Bowery also credited as a songwriter for the track “Sweet Nothing” — Swift has since revealed that the mysterious songwriter is her boyfriend, actor Alwyn. Others credited on the album include Mark A. Spears, Keanu Torres, Jahaan Sweet and Sam Dew. Zoë Kravitz is credited as a songwriter for “Lavender Haze” and Swift’s Folklore and Evermore collaborator and the National’s Aaron Dessner co-wrote and co-produced three of the seven bonus tracks on the 3am Edition.
