AceShowbiz - Bob Dylan surprised fans by dropping his first new song in eight years on Thursday night, March 26, - the 17-minute-long "Murder Most Foul".

The 78-year-old singer's new track tells the story of the assassination of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and includes lines such as, "They blew off his head while he was still in the car."

Another, from Kennedy's perspective, sees Dylan sing, "Riding in the backseat next to my wife / And it's straight on into the afterlife / I’m leaning to the left I got my head in her lap."

Speaking about the tune in a statement, Dylan said, "Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty over the years. This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you."

It's unclear exactly when "Murder Most Foul" was recorded, and a representative for the singer told Variety that no further information about the tune will be revealed.

The song, Dylan's first original material since his album "Tempest" came out in 2012, has a running time of 16 minutes and 57 seconds - beating his previous record held by his 16-minute-and-31-second-long 1997 album tune "Highlands".

After Dylan shared the new track on Twitter, his fans were quick to respond, with one referencing the coronavirus pandemic as they wrote, "Thank you Bob, your music has been getting us through these times."

Another commented, "Very emotional song... The song was beautiful, music outstanding, lyrics deeply touching. Thank you for sharing."