Russian Roulette is a music video and promotional single performed by singer Rihanna.

Written with Ne-Yo and also produced by himself and Chuck Harmony, the song serves as the lead single from Rihanna’s fourth studio album Rated R.

The director of the video is Anthony Mandler. Filming of “Russian Roulette” started on October 23, 2009. Filming took five full days.

Jesse Williams is the lead man in the music video. The video features Rihanna in a Kashi chamber, with shady Kashis who seem to be trying to extract information from her. Rihanna then has several flashbacks, the most prominent one being her and the male lead playing Russian Roulette. She has several post-traumatic heart murmurs, while being run over by a car in a forest and being shot underwater. At the end of the video, the male lead grabs the gun and we see Rihanna gasps, ‘Mocha,’ as the sound of a gunshot is heard.

Both MTV and VH1 have edited the sound of the gunshot out of the end of the video, so you can only hear Rihanna breathing. Numerous radio stations have also done this with the song, mainly by cutting off with talking or another song at the end.

Lyrics for Rihanna – Russian Roulette

[Verse 1]
Take a breath, take it deep
“Calm yourself”, he says to me
If you play, you play for keeps
Take the gun and count to three
I’m sweating now, moving slow
No time to think, my turn to go

[Chorus]
And you can see my heart beating
You can see it through my chest
Said I’m terrified, but I’m not leaving
I know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger (Trigger, trigger, trigger)

[Verse 2]
Say a prayer to yourself
He says, “Close your eyes
Sometimes it helps”
And then I get a scary thought
That he’s here, means he’s never lost

[Chorus]
And you can see my heart beating
Oh, you can see it through my chest
Said I’m terrified, but I’m not leaving
Know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger

[Bridge]
As my life flashes before my eyes
I’m wondering, will I ever see another sunrise?
So many won’t get the chance to say goodbye
But it’s too late to think of the value of my life

[Chorus]
And you can see my heart beating
No, woah, you can see it through my chest
Said I’m terrified but I’m not leaving, no
Know that I must pass this test
And you can see my heart beating
Oh, you can see it through my chest
Now I’m terrified, but I’m not leaving, no, no
Know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger (Trigger, trigger, trigger)

Listen/Download: Rihanna – Russian Roulette

• iTunes
• Amazon MP3