Rihanna is playing “Russian Roulette”

Rihanna is one of the most successful female pop stars in the world. She was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Barbados in 1988. She moved to the US when she was 16 and released her first album, Music of the Sun, in 2005. The album featured the hit single "Pon de Replay". Her next album, A Girl Like Me (2006), was also a big hit. But Rihanna really became a megastar with her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, in 2007, with singles like "Umbrella" and "Disturbia". Rated R is her fourth album. 

"Russian Roulette" from Rated R

If you play, you play for keeps ...

You can see my heart beating ...
I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving ...

As my life flashes before my eyes,
I'm wondering will I ever see another sunrise.

Russian roulette is an incredibly dangerous game of chance that's played with a gun. Legend says that Russian soldiers started playing the game in the 19th century. In Rihanna's new song, she describes playing a game of Russian roulette and how scared she is.

When you play for keeps, you play very seriously and the results are permanent. The expression comes from the game of marbles, where the winner keeps all the marbles he has won. The expression to have your life flash before your eyes comes from the idea that the moment before you die, you see your whole life and everything you've done clearly in front of you.