When I first heard Amy Grant’s latest song, The 6th of January (Yasgur’s Farm) it immediately brought me back to my teenager years and working at Silver Lake Conference Center. Silver Lake is a place for everyone to experience nature, make new friends, and explore your faith. With more than 60 acres of wooded land on lakeside shores, Silver Lake offers many opportunities for people of all ages to take risks and try new things with the support of an intentional Christian community.
At Silver Lake we worship, learn, play,
serve, and work together, respecting the right of private judgement. We seek to
provide a safe environment of acceptance regardless of race, ethnicity, gender,
or sexual orientation, reflecting our unity in Christ and respecting the faith
journeys of all of God’s children.
It was the summer of
’87 and it was the best summer of my life.
That was the summer I was first introduced to Amy Grant’s music and my
love for her continues to this day. I’m
actually seeing her in concert at the end of this month which is a huge bucket
list check accomplishment.
Here are the lyrics to her song…
"The 6th Of January (Yasgur's Farm)”
She says maybe it's the time of year
Or maybe it's the time of man
60's playlist and a beer
I'm suddenly 16 again
What's the future hold in store
What's it hiding up its sleeve
All that wide-eyed hope
Were we so naive
Hey mister where's the road to Yasgur's farm
He stares at me with pity and alarm
Says that crowd left here long ago
Scattered all to hell and Harper's Ferry
On the 6th of January
I'm shopping for some groceries
Muzak piped in overhead
They only play the melody
I hear the words John Lennon said
Asking me to imagine
As I fight this cart with crooked wheels
He's either bent over laughing
Or spinning in his Strawberry Fields
Where's the road to Yasgur's farm
He stares at me with pity and alarm
Says that crowd left here long ago
Scattered all to hell and Harper's Ferry
On the 6th of January
And we're driving home and the radio plays
What's goin' on? Marvin Gaye
Is it right on red or left on MLK
I look ahead and realize we've lost our way
Hey mister where's the road to Yasgur's farm
He stares at me with pity and alarm
Says that crowd left here long ago
Scattered all to hell and Harper's Ferry
On the 6th of January
On the 6th of January
The first verse resonates so much with me because I was 15
just turning 16 that first year on staff at Silver Lake Conference Center and
just like the song states, I was young, wide eyed with hope and naïve.
After the chorus, the lyrics talk about John Lennon and the
song, Imagine. I love that song and I
loved it so much under my photo in my Sr. yearbook it reads, Imagine there’s no
countries, it isn’t hard to do. Nothing
to kill or die for. Imagine all the
people, living life in peace.
The chorus of the song when Amy mentions Yasgur’s Farm I did
think she was referring to Woodstock and the summer of ’69 but I did google it
to make sure. I will admit though I did
not know about Harper’s Ferry, so to google I went to learn that it is known
for it’s pivotal role in the Civil War particularly John Brown’s1859 raid in an
attempt to start a slave rebellion, hoping to arm enslaved people for
freedom. Unfortunately, it failed.
Now to the meaning behind the song according to Amy. In her January 2026 interviews, Amy Grant
explains that her song "The 6th of January (Yasgur's Farm)" uses the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot as a symbol of modern societal division, contrasting it with the 1960s hope for unity. She urges
listeners to sit with this "unrest" to find healing, connection, and
personal accountability rather than jumping to solutions.
This song was so brilliantly written by Nashville songwriter Sandra (Sandy) Emory Lawrence.
Thank you again Amy for bringing music that resonates so deeply with me. Can’t wait to see you at the end of the month!
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