I got sent home from school one day

With a shiner on my eye

Fighting was against the rules

And it didn't matter why

When dad got home I told the story

Just like I'd rehearsed

And then stood there on my trembling knees

And waited for the worst



(Chorus)

(He said/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."



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



(Repeat chorus)



Last night I dreamed I'd died

And stood outside those pearly gates

And suddenly, I realized

There must be some mistake

If they know half the things I've done

They'll never let me in

And a voice spoke from the other side

And I heard those words again



(Repeat chorus)