Bob Dylan releases 17-minute song inspired by Kennedy's assassination. Listen.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bob Dylan released a 17-minute song on Friday inspired by the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy more than five decades ago—the influential singer's first original song since 2012.

Dylan, 78, announced the release of "Murder Most Foul" on his website and on Twitter, saying it was "an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting."

"Stay safe, stay alert, and may God be with you," he added.

The lyrics range from a detailed recreation of the 1963 assassination itself to free references and observations about pop culture, including the Beatles and the Woodstock festival.

“The soul of a nation has been torn apart, and it’s beginning to slowly decline,” Dylan sings in the ballad, accompanied by piano, drums, and violin.

“Riding in the back seat next to my wife, And it’s straight to the beyond, I’m leaning to the left with my head in her lap,” he sings at one point, adopting Kennedy’s point of view.

Dylan, considered one of the most influential singers and songwriters in the United States, has avoided publicity for decades, but still tours and performs in small venues around the world.

The author of emblematic songs of the 1960s counterculture, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Like a Rolling Stone," last released an album of new material in 2012, "Tempest," which includes a tribute to John Lennon of the Beatles, who was also assassinated, and a 14-minute song about the sinking of the Titanic.

Check out the video below, as well as the translated lyrics:

It was a dark day in Dallas, in November of '63.

A day that will live in infamy.

President Kennedy was very high.

A good day to live and a good day to die.

Being led to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb

He said, "Wait a minute, boys, do you know who I am?"

"Of course, we know who you are!"

Then they blew his head off while he was still in the car.

Defeated like a dog in broad daylight.

It was a matter of time, and the timing was right.

You have unpaid debts, we've come to collect.

We will kill you with hatred, without any respect.

We're going to mock you, shock you, and rub it in your face.

We already have someone here to take your place.

The day they blew the king's brains out

Thousands were watching, but nobody saw anything.

It happened so fast, so quickly, completely by surprise.

Right there in front of everyone's eyes.

The greatest magic trick ever performed under the sun.

Perfectly executed, skillfully done.

Wolfman, oh wolfman, oh wolfman howl

Rub-a-dub-dub, it's a more disgusting murder.

Calm down, my little ones, you'll understand.

The Beatles are coming, they're going to hold your hand.

Slide down the handrail, grab your coat.

Ferry 'cross the Mersey and go to the gorge'

Three vagrants are all dressed in rags.

Grab the pieces and lower the flags.

I'm going to Woodstock, it's the Age of Aquarius.

So I go to Altamont and sit near the stage.

Stick your head out the window, let the good times roll on.

There's a party behind the Grassy Knoll.

Stack the bricks, pour the cement.

Don't tell me Dallas doesn't love you, Mr. President.

Put your foot on the gas tank and step on the accelerator.

Try to reach the triple viaduct.

Blackface singer, whiteface clown

It's best not to show your faces after the sun goes down.

In the red-light district, they have police on the beat.

Living a nightmare on Elm Street

When you're in Deep Ellum, put your money in your shoe.

Don't ask what your country can do for you.

Money in banknotes, money to burn.

Dealey Plaza, turn left.

I'm going down to the crossroads to hitchhike.

The place where faith, hope, and charity meet.

Shoot him while he's running, kid, shoot him while you can.

See if you can shoot the invisible man.

Goodbye Charlie! Goodbye, Uncle Sam!

Frankly, Ms. Scarlett, I don't give a damn.

What is the truth and where did it go?

Ask Oswald and Ruby, they should know.

"Shut up," said a wise old owl.

Business is business, and it's a very dirty murder.

Tommy, can you hear me? I'm the acid queen.

I'm riding in a long, black Lincoln limousine.

Getting rid of me in the back seat next to my wife.

He went straight to the afterlife.

I'm leaning to the left, I've put my head in her lap.

Wait, I've been led into some kind of trap.

Where we ask for barracks, and we give no barracks.

We're on the same street as you live.

They mutilated his body and killed his brain.

What else could they do? They piled up the pain.

But his soul wasn't where it should have been.

For the last fifty years, they have been searching for it.

Freedom, oh freedom, freedom over me.

I hate to tell you, sir, but only dead men are free.

Send me some love, so don't lie to me.

Throw the gun in the gutter and move on.

Wake up, little Susie, let's go for a walk.

Cross the Trinity River, let's keep hope alive.

Turn on the radio, don't touch the dials.

Parkland Hospital, just six miles away.

You made me dizzy, Miss Lizzy, you filled me with lead.

That magic bullet of yours went straight to my head.

I'm just a patsy like Patsy Cline

Never shoot anyone from the front or the back.

I have blood in my eye, blood in my ear.

I'll never reach the new frontier.

A Zapruder film that I saw the previous night.

Seen thirty-three times, maybe more.

It is vile and deceitful, it is cruel and it is cruel.

The ugliest thing you've ever seen.

They killed him once and they killed him twice.

He killed him like a human sacrifice.

On the day they killed him, someone told me: "Son

The era of the Antichrist has only just begun.

Air Force One entering through the gate.

Johnson was sworn in at 2:38

Let me know when you decide to throw in the towel.

It is what it is, and it's the most disgusting murder.

What's new, kitten? What did I say?

I said that the soul of a nation was ripped away.

And it's beginning to enter a slow decline.

And thirty-six hours have already passed since Judgment Day.

Wolfman Jack, he's speaking in tongues.

It remains at the top of the lungs.

Play a song for me, Mr. Wolfman Jack

Tap for me in my long Cadillac

Tell me that "only the good die young"

Take me to the place where Tom Dooley was hanged.

Play "St. James Infirmary" and the court of King James

If you want to remember, it's best to write down the names.

Play Etta James too, play "I'd Rather Go Blind"

Touch the man with the telepathic mind.

Play John Lee Hooker, play "Scratch My Back"

Play for that strip club owner named Jack.

Slim guitar slowly descending

Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe

Play "Please don't let me be misunderstood"

Play it for the First Lady, she's not feeling well.

Play as Don Henley, play as Glenn Frey

Push it to the limit and let it pass.

Also play for Carl Wilson

Looking far, far away, down Gower Avenue

Play tragedy, play "Twilight Time"

Take me back to Tulsa to the crime scene.

Play another one and "Another one bites the dust"

Play "The Old Wrecked Cross" and "In God We Trust"

Mount the pink horse down that long, lonely road.

Just stand there and wait for his head to explode.

Play "Mystery Train" for Mr. Mystery

The man who fell dead like a tree without roots.

Play for the reverend, play for the pastor.

Throw it to the stray dog.

Play Oscar Peterson, play Stan Getz

Play "Blue Sky", play Dickey Betts

Play Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk

Charlie Parker and all that garbage

All this rubbish and "All That Jazz"

Play something for the Birdman of Alcatraz

Play Buster Keaton, play Harold Lloyd

Play Bugsy Siegel, play Pretty Boy Floyd

Play the numbers, play the odds.

Play "Cry Me A River" for the Lord of the Gods.

Roll the number nine, roll the number six.

Play for Lindsey and Stevie Nicks

Play Nat King Cole, play "Nature Boy"

Play "Down In The Boondocks" for Terry Malloy

Play "It Happened One Night" and "A Night of Sin".

There are twelve million souls listening.

Play "Merchant of Venice", play "Merchants of Death"

Play "Stella by Starlight" for Lady Macbeth

Don't worry, Mr. President, help is on the way.

Your brothers are coming, there will be hell to pay for.

Brothers? What brothers? What's this about hell?

Tell them, "We're waiting, keep coming," we'll welcome you too.

Love Field is where your plane landed.

But he never got up from the ground.

It was a difficult act to follow, unparalleled.

They killed him at the altar of the rising sun.

Play "Misty" for me and "That Old Devil Moon"

Play "Anything Goes" and "Memphis in June"

Play "Lonely At the Top" and "Lonely Are the Brave"

Play for Houdini spinning around his grave.

Play Jelly Roll Morton, play "Lucille"

Tap "Deep In a Dream" and then tap "Driving Wheel".

Play "Moonlight Sonata" in F-sharp

And "A Key to the Highway" for the king on the harp

Play "Marching Through Georgia" and "Dumbarton Drums"

Let darkness play its part and death will come when it comes.

Play "Love Me or Leave Me" by the great Bud Powell.

Tap on "The blood-stained banner", tap on "The dirtiest murder"