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Matt Bunsen and the Burners

Yosemite Sam

Music: Matt Bunsen. Lyrics: Wikipedia



I’m Yosemite Sam. That’s who I am.
I’m Yosemite Sam. That’s who I am.
I’m a cold cold man.
Nobody can adorn your mud flaps like I can.

Yosemite Sam is an animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, produced by Warner Bros. Animation.
The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park.
He is commonly depicted as a short-tempered Western outlaw with an intense hatred of rabbits, especially Bugs Bunny.

In cartoons with non-Western themes, he uses various aliases, including "Chilkoot Sam" (named for theChilkoot Trail; Sam pronounces it "Chilli-koot") in 14 Carrot Rabbit
(although in the same cartoon, when he tries to gain Bugs Bunny's trust, he cleverly invents alias "Square-deal Sam"),
"Riff Raff Sam" in Sahara Hare,
"Sam Schulz" in Big House Bunny,
"Seagoin' Sam" in Buccaneer Bunny,
"Shanghai Sam" in Mutiny on the Bunny,
and "Sam Von Schamm the Hessian" in Bunker Hill Bunny and many others.

[ repeat chorus ]

The role of Yosemite Sam was originated by the Warners' principal voiceman, Mel Blanc. In his autobiography, Blanc said he had a difficult time coming up with the voice.
He tried giving Sam a small voice, but didn't feel that it worked. One day, he decided to simply yell at the top of his lungs, which was inspired by a fit of road rage he had that day.

It fit perfectly with the blustery character, but also took a toll on Mel.
He always made it a point to record Sam's lines at the end of a recording session so he wouldn't have to play other characters with a hoarse voice.
In his final years, it was simply too much, and he passed along the role to others
(most notably Joe Alaskey in Who Framed Roger Rabbit).
This makes Sam one of the few voices created by Blanc to be voiced by someone else during his lifetime.

Blanc used a voice similar to Yosemite Sam's for Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons.