Celebrating Auckland's fourth-ness

Singer songwriter Lindon Puffin wrote the song We Are Fourth. Photo / Martin Woodhall

Some of New Zealand's leading muscians have recorded a song to celebrate Auckland being voted the fourth-best city in the world in an international survey.

Opshop's Jason Kerrison, chart-topping hip-hop stars Smashproof, and perennial rocker Jordan Luck are among those singing on the tongue-in-cheek We Are Fourth written by Auckland-based singer-songwriter Lindon Puffin.

He was commissioned to write the song by Moro, which has the advertising slogan "New Zealand's 4th-favourite chocolate bar", and it is available for download from today through www.amplifier.co.nz and www.moro.co.nz

The song will also be available from tomorrow (Friday) through the websites of Vodafone, Telecom, Digirama and Amplifier with proceeds going to the Cure Kids charity.

The accompanying video can be seen on YouTube and at moro.co.nz.

Puffin's Auckland anthem celebrates the city's top 10 success in the Mercer 2009 Quality of Living Survey in which it was ranked behind Vienna, Zurich and Geneva, in a tie for fourth with Vancouver.

The lyrics not only pay homage to the City of Sails but also poke fun at some of the things that it is infamous for, like being "a tree short on One Tree Hill".

Then there's the chorus: "Cos we are fourth, we are Auckland Just a traffic jam north of the Bombay Hills ... nestled in the bosom of Britomart,"

And Smashproof do an equally inspired rap at the end of the song that goes: "Almost the best place in the world ... sorta like Mahe Drysdale".

We Are Fourth also features an all-star chorus of well-known Aucklanders including the Mad Butcher, former Warrior Monty Betham, and a range of radio hosts.

Other musicians involved include Annabel Fay, Victoria Girling-Butcher from Lucid 3, Nick Campbell and Simon Oscroft from Midnight Youth, and Jon Austin from 48 May. The song will also be gifted to each of Auckland's mayors and, since he's name-checked in the song, one suspects John Banks might consider it for his supermayor campaign.