Marcus Wiebusch – Der Tag wird kommen

“And the day will come
When we all will raise our glasses
Float through the ceiling
Celebrate the one by raising a toast
On the first one who makes it”

These are the first lines of The Day Will Come, a song that the front man and singer of the Hamburg-based indie rock band “Kettcar” – Marcus Wiebusch – wrote for his new solo album. An impressive short film also accompanies the song.

This seven-minute film was released on YouTube in September 2014 and tells the story of a soccer player who developed from a little boy playing on the local soccer field to a successful professional in the Bundesliga, Germany’s top soccer league, and who wonders if he can publicly announce his homosexuality.

Unfortunately such an announcement seems for soccer players like an impossible step to take. “In soccer, there’s still this really archaic, totally obsolete notion of masculinity in play,” says the 46-year old Wiebusch, and with The Day Will Come, he incriminates homophobia in soccer today. As a passionate soccer fan, it is really important to Wiebusch that the sport he so loves is not undercut by racism and homophobia.

Obviously the singer and co-founder of the independent label Grand Hotel Van Cleef hits a nerve with his emotional hymn. Originally just released as a video with words, Wiebusch searched on the internet for people who could help him produce this elaborate short film. Through crowdfunding 54,000 Euros were raised in just four days – 24,000 more than planned.

Wiebusch made this short film together with actors and fan clubs of various soccer teams. It was filmed in a number of soccer arenas and fans of FC St. Pauli, Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich can be seen. Within 24 hours of being posted, the video had 60,000 clicks on YouTube, was played on the loudspeaker in soccer arenas and played at Gay Pride parades. The response was huge and overwhelmingly very positive.

When will “The Day” come? According to Wiebusch the year is still unknown. All that is clear: with The Day Will Come the musician sent a clear signal against homophobia in soccer and showed that even the teams’ fans are - slowly but surely - ready to clean up these unsustainable prejudices.