# Wassa matta for me? Hey, wassa matta for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415 "2016-08-20T15:21:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/1 "2016-08-20T15:21:52Z")
For some reason, this song popped into my head. ♬ _Wassa matta for me? Hey! Wassa matta for you? Hey! Wassa matta for you? Hey! Wassa matta for you?_ ♬ So I thought I’d look it up to see if I can find a YouTube video of it. I found [_Shaddap You Face_ by Joe Dolce](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFacWGBJ_cs). But this isn’t the [del]droid[/del] song I’m looking for. _Shaddap You Face_ was written by Dolce in 1980, and the song I’m thinking if is much older. Bullwinkle J. Moose went to Wassmatta U., and the show was made from 1959 to 1964. I don’t know if Bullwinkle’s alma mater had any connection to the song in my head, but I wouldn’t bet against it. So what is the song in my head? The tune sounds a bit like an Itlaianized version of the chorus from _We Did It Before And We Can Do It Again_. Kind of upbeat, like _Mambo Italiano_ (but different tune). It’s not like Dolche’s song. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/2 "2016-08-20T15:46:06Z")
[Bugs.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv5Tg1tVYXE) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/3 "2016-08-20T15:53:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [Bugs.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv5Tg1tVYXE) Thanks! I almost certainly heard it fro Bugs Bunny. [Found another one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpqsIjEL8k). Next question: Was it a ‘real’ song? Or was it something Warner Brothers made up for the cartoons? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/4 "2016-08-20T16:35:53Z")
Wouldn’t surprise me if the lyrics were written by Mel Blanc or one of his cohorts (I saw something that credited it to Michael Maltese), although the music seems familiar from some other Italian song or instrumental. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/5 "2016-08-20T16:36:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Thanks! I almost certainly heard it fro Bugs Bunny. > > [Found another one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpqsIjEL8k). > > Next question: Was it a ‘real’ song? Or was it something Warner Brothers made up for the cartoons? One site I found says that the book “That’s All Folks!” attributes the lyrics as original to Michael Maltese, who wrote it for Warner Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/6 "2016-08-20T16:51:07Z")
Weird! I thought about this song and tried to look it up this week with no luck. I knew it was from Bugs Bunny and I remembered the basic lyrics (but not how to spell them). I could not find it in any of my searches. I was starting to think that I imagined the whole thing. Another mystery solved thanks to the Dope! ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/7 "2016-08-20T17:26:13Z")
Lou Monte (of Pepino the Mouse fame) did a version of \*\*[Shaddapa You Face](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-5EjG-6r9o)\*\*with the “Hey” that the OP was looking for. (Around 2 mins. in) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/8 "2016-08-20T17:34:20Z")
That’s a completely different melody, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/9 "2016-08-20T18:35:35Z")
It’s sort of similar to a couple of Italian classics like [Tarantella Napoletana](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-xsosv6uM0) or [Hey Gumbare](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-xsosv6uM0). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wassa-matta-for-me-hey-wassa-matta-for-you/763415/10 "2016-08-20T18:46:54Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [Bugs.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv5Tg1tVYXE) Beat me to it. I found it in a [longer clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOTlNOZB4Zo) that give a little more context. I love the Tazmanian Devil’s idea of a tossed salad.