I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye

Fighting was against the rules and it didnt matter why

When Dad got home I told that story just like Id rehearsed

Then stood there on those trembling knees and waited for the worst

And he said, Let me tell you a secret, about a fathers love

A secret that my daddy said was just between us

He said daddies dont just love their children every now and then

Its a love without end, amen, its 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 fathers son

And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end

I took my daddys secret and I passed it on to him

And I said, Let me tell you a secret, about a fathers love

A secret that my daddy said was just between us

I said daddies dont just love their children every now and then

Its a love without end, amen, its a love without end, amen

Last night I dreamed Id died and stood outside those pearly gates

When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake

If they know half the stuff I done theyll never let me in

Then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again

And they said, Let me tell you a secret, about a fathers love

A secret that my daddy said was just between us

You see daddies dont just love their children every now and then

Its a love without end, amen, its a love without end, amen