I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye Fightin' was against the rules and it didn't matter why When dad got home I told that story just like I'd rehearsed And then stood there on those tremblin' knees and waited for the worst And he said, 'Let me tell you a secret about a father's love A secret that my daddy said was just between us' He said, 'Daddies don't just love their children every now and then It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen' When I became a father in the spring of '81 There was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father's son And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end I took my daddy's secret and I passed it on to him And he said, 'Let me tell you a secret about a father's love A secret that my daddy said was just between us' He said, 'Daddies don't just love their children every now and then It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen' Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake If they know half the things I've done, they'll never let me in And then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again And he said, 'Let me tell you a secret about a father's love A secret that my daddy said was just between us' He said, 'Daddies don't just love their children every now and then It's a love without end, amen, it's a love without end, amen'