Rihanna Pulls the Trigger on New Single

Signer streams the debut of her immensely anticipated song, "Russian Roulette," online; video to premiere during ABC prime time

The wait is officially ova.

Making good on her countdown-clock-underscored promise of big things, Rihanna has debuted her immensely anticipated single, "Russian Roulette," streaming it online this morning at precisely 11:23 a.m. ET. (For those playing along at home, her fourth album, Rated R, is coming out Nov. 23—another 11/23—got it? Good.)

If ever a song's lyrics were up for intense media scrutiny and armchair overanalysis, this is it. So let's jump in, shall we?

"Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving/I know that I must pass this test," Ri-Ri sings. "So just pull the trigger."

"So many won't get the chance to say good-bye/But it's too late to think of the value of my life," she goes on in her lyrics, rife for the mining by pop-psychologists. Lest we forget, the song is Rihanna's first musical output since her attack last February at the hands of Chris Brown.

As it is, the surefire hit, produced and cowritten by Ne-Yo, has proven true the reports that her new sound is a darker one, what with her oft-repeating chorus of "pull the trigger," and dramatically abrupt ending—a sharp intake of Rihanna's breath and a single echoing gunshot.

Of course, while it's dark, it likely won't be that dark, as the music video is set to debut during prime time on the family-friendly ABC.

So the wait is ova. Was it worth it?