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)