After two years without new music, Beyoncé has surprised fans with ‘Morning Dew (Donk)’, an unreleased song that serves as the first preview of the upcoming 20th anniversary edition of her iconic 2006 album B'Day.

Released without warning over the Fourth of July weekend, the track launches a 60-day countdown to September 4, the date of both Beyoncé's 45th birthday and the anniversary reissue of B'Day.

According to Parkwood Entertainment, the song is "a direct nod to her loyal BeyHive" ahead of the milestone celebration. It arrives with a lyric video directed by longtime collaborator Cliff Watts using archival footage from the B'Day era.

The release finally gives fans an official version of a song that has been surrounded by rumours for years. Written by Beyoncé alongside Pharrell Williams, The-Dream, and Darius Dixon, Morning Dew (Donk) reportedly originated during sessions for Beyoncé's 2013 self-titled album.

After snippets leaked online and the title appeared in the ASCAP database in 2014, the track became one of the singer's most talked-about unreleased songs.

Lyrically, the song is a playful celebration of romance, desire and relationships that have kept their spark over time. It opens with the nostalgic line, "As we sip champagne, watchin' Purple Rain," before Beyoncé compares love to teenage infatuation, singing, "I think I wanna go back to school and have my locker full of pictures of you."

She later adds, "It's something 'bout that look you give me, makin' me feel that young love inside," while the chorus turns up the flirtation with, "Girl, you sexy in the mornin'... Give me that mornin' dew."

The repeated "donkey, donkey, donkey, donk" refrain has already become the song's signature hook.

Originally released in 2006, B'Day debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and produced hits including Déjà Vu, Ring the Alarm, Irreplaceable and Beautiful Liar. The album helped define Beyoncé's solo career and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album.

Parkwood has not yet revealed the full tracklist for the anniversary edition, leaving fans hopeful that more unreleased songs could be included. Until then, Morning Dew (Donk) offers a nostalgic return to one of Beyoncé's most celebrated eras while building anticipation for the B'Day celebration and perhaps whatever comes next after Cowboy Carter.