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   Then stood there on those tremblin' knees and waitin' 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 passed it on to him      I 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'd 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   Then somewhere from the other side, I heard these words again      And they said      Let me tell you a secret about a father's love   A secret that my daddy said was just between us   You see 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