D                                        G            D  
I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye  
                                             G             A  
Cause fighting was against the rules and it didn't matter why  
      G              A               D               G  
When dad got home I told that story just like I'd rehearsed  
  D                                    A              D  
Then stood there almost trembling and waited for the worst  
  
  
                   D                        G                D  
He (I, they) said let me tell you a secret about a father's love  
                                 G            A  
A secret that my daddy said was just between us  
         G                  A                   D             G  
You see daddy's don't just love their children every now and then  
        D            A     D                        A     D  
It's a love without end, amen  It's a love without end, amen  
  
  
                  D            G          D  
When I became a father in the spring of '81  
                                   G                         A  
There was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father's son  
           G              A               D           G  
And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end  
          D         A     D               A     D  
I took my daddy's secret and I passed it on to him  
  
  
                  D                        G                D  
He (I, they) said let me tell you a secret about a father's love  
                                 G            A  
A secret that my daddy said was just between us  
         G                  A                   D             G  
You see daddy's don't just love their children every now and then  
        D            A     D                        A     D      E 
It's a love without end, amen  It's a love without end, amen  


Slide up one full scale for last verse and chorus 
  
  
E                                       A            E  
Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates  
                                 A             B B7  
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake  
             A              B               E               A  
If they knew half the things I've done they'll never let me in  
         E                                    B B7              E  
Then a somewhere from the other side and I heard these words again  
  
                  E                        A                E  
He (I, they) said let me tell you a secret about a father's love  
                                 A            B7  
A secret that my daddy said was just between us  
         A                  B7                   E             A  
You see daddy's don't just love their children every now and then  
        E            B7     E                        B7     E  
It's a love without end, amen  It's a love without end, amen