LYONS: You and me is two different people, Pop. You got your way of dealing with the world… I got mine. The only thing that matters to me is the music. I know I got to eat. But I got to live too. I need something that gonna help me to get out of the bed in the morning. Make me feel like I belong in the world. I don’t bother nobody. I just stay with my music cause that’s the only way I can find to live in the world. Otherwise there ain’t no telling what I might do. Now I don’t come criticizing you and how you live. I just come by to ask you for ten dollars. I don’t wanna hear all that about how I live. You can’t change me, Pop. I’m thirty-four years old. If you wanted to change me, you should have been there when I was growing up. I come by to see you and ask for ten dollars and you want to talk about how I was raised. You don’t know nothing about how I was raised.
‘Fences’ (Lyons): “You don’t know nothing about how I was raised”
FENCES by August Wilson
From: Play
Type: Dramatic
Character: Lyons, a musician, is Troy Maxon's son from a previous relationship.
Gender: Male
Age Range: 30's
Summary: After asking to borrow $10 and getting an earful, Lyons tells his father that he's not like him.
More: Read the Play | Watch the Film
