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, I'm moving slow
No time to think, my turn to go

And you can see my heart, beating,
You can see it through my chest
I'm terrified but I'm not leaving, no
I know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger (trigger, trigger, trigger)

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

And you can see my heart, beating,
Now 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

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

And you can see my heart, beating,
Now you can see it through my chest
Said I'm terrified but I'm not leaving, no!
I know that I must pass this test
And you can see my heart, beating,
Oh you can see it through my chest
I'm terrified but I'm not leaving, no!
I know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger (trigger, trigger, trigger)



Lyrics submitted by Yumi

Track duration: 03:49

"Russian Roulette" as written by Charles Harmon, Shaffer / Smith

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Russian Roulette song meanings
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86 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment:I think this song is about falling in love, but it is speaking about it from a totally helpless point of view. A lot of songs are about love being bliss but in reality it can be paralysing. The metaphor of russian roulette and shooting yourself, is plunging in to a relationship. The moment where you 'pull the trigger' is the moment where you commit to someone enough, that they are now in a position to break your heart. The line of 'hes here means he has never lost' means because he single/available means he has never played the game and not lost his heart anyone completely.

    I guess, as normal in a rihanna song, the act of sleeping with the guy is the act of pulling the trigger and falling for him. 'close your eyes, sometimes it helps' is kissing etc

    The middle 8 is a bit intense, but can sadly also be true. ''Too late to pick up the value of my life'' is that feeling where you are no longer completely self dependant. That horrible feeling were you can't imagine having not met someone and that you are not complete without them. Sappy movies such as Jerry Maguire have made sentiment of this, but it is actually painful to be that in love with some one.

    Very interesting song because it barely strays from the metaphor and could almost be a literal meaning.
    Flagged birchualon June 14, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:He is telling her that if they were to date, it would be because they would be able to end up together in the long run. Now it is her turn to feel
    this pain of losing possibility of finding love with another person. I'm guessing she truly loves this person, and may not have been able to commit,
    but right now he is saying it is your turn, pull the trigger and take a chance with me.She is utterly terrified to do this, she's gotta do this to be with him,
    so she just needs to pull the trigger. He suggests to her to bow her head in meditation and prayer to decide this, so I'm guessing this is a serious relationship.
    She thinks to herself 'He's still here, and still has me, and he's still happy.'She gets nervous knowing that she may never get the ability to learn from and leave
    different people. She says her life passes before her eyes, and I assume at this point she kisses him and all the negative emotions flow through her, all her anxious
    thoughts run through her head. But she keeps thinking it at the end of the song, and this to me means she continues kissing him. She pulled the trigger. Idk, that's my
    interpretation.
    Flag MXT81586on June 08, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:who is chris brown?
    Flag CaramelFudgeon October 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Rihanna’s lyrics convey her belief that playing this game is breath-taking and suspenseful. She uses phrases like “pull the trigger” and “take the gun and count to three” to support this belief of mind control within the media. Within each phrase she draws suspense to her listeners as to what will happen next, to convey the fact that none of these scenarios are real; they are forced into her consciousness by a machine controlled by a handler. Both phrases are demanding and very concrete phrases, they are telling Rihanna what to do. As a mother would demand her child to do something, expecting the child to do as they are told without question. In this scenario, the mother would be the handler, controlling her child, because it is installed in the mind of children that they MUST do as their mother says. This is a perfect display of mind control.
    Rihanna uses the word “gun” to help you visualize the mind control taking place in this song. The word “gun” is a noun. It is a weapon consisting of a metal tube from which a projectile is fired at high velocity into a relatively flat trajectory. When placed at someone’s head it is used to put pressure on them, or control them. Being an informal and figurative word, gun appeals to imagery. The media also has a gun. Their gun would be television. That’s how they get they get their followers to listen. Every time you change the channel, you have videos, commercials, live television shows telling you what to do and what to believe. This idea is the point that Rihanna is trying to make, that the media has mind control of its listeners. They do as told without any question because of the credibility of the celebrity they are using to get their point across.
    Rihanna is using the game Russian roulette to demonstrate the control the media has on the minds of its listeners. The gun she refers to is the television and how watching it makes you believe whatever is being said. This supports the idea that Rihanna uses a suspenseful and nervous diction to help you visualize playing the game, which conveys her belief that Russian roulette is a game of non-comical mind control.
    Flag MindOvaMatteron April 07, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Rihanna can voice very loudlly ,
    Flag Oktayon February 08, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:well, I personally think it's a drug refferance, considering someone is forcing her to play this "game" also with the line "that he's here means he's never lost" kinda brings up that you can never truly win against addiction.
    Flag sugarsnowpeaon January 17, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about someone taking a chance...or 'playing Russian Roulette' you could say. The guy does not care for her, it's all a game to him. And apparently it's a game he can play very well judging by the "then I get a scary thought, that he's here means he's never lost" -- Rihanna knows her chance of coming out on top is slim. It is a metaphor for taking a risk in a relationship that can possibly ruin your life emotionally or physically. "So many wont get the chance to say goodbye but it's too late to think of the value of my life" - she's taken a chance and is now hesitating, but she can't turn back because it's too late. At the end of the song she takes a deep breath and then there is a gun shot. She lost. I think Neyo wrote this for her with Chris Brown in mind. Defiantely.
    Flag mexican_missezon January 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song has a diabolic message it's about her giving her life to the Devil and how she feels like she got herself into it and there's no way out. "And then I get a scary thought That he's here means he's never lost" how else would you interpret that? Also notice how she saying that the value of her human life isn't at all relevant anymore because of what she's already sworn and destined out to do because of the choice she made which falls under the category of Delta, which is something that Illuminati's or the "Illuminated" train their followers to do which is to KILL themselves or other in a way that is programed or forced upon them so they can't do anything about it. As if they were tied down and even if they wanted to escape they couldn't.
    Flag DollyBabee1on November 03, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Alot of you are correct, but I do believe that this song is about being in an unhealthy relationship and trying to decide whether to leave or go.
    Flag marie7334on November 02, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I disagree with a lot of you (no offense). I personally think this is one of those songs that you're supposed to take at face value. She's playing a game of Russian Roulette, her life is on the line, but she's not about to back out. If you've ever played the game, you know this is exactly how you feel throughout it. Anyone who has played also knows once you're in it, there's no backing out (unless by some miracle you're playing with a forgiving person/group). So I honestly don't think she intended this song to mean much more than she's holding a gun to her head for a game. The gunshot in the end is the perfect example as to why there doesn't have to be a hidden message.
    Flag MyTwistingAlleywayon September 02, 2010   Link

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