Jessica Woodlee’s reckoning in “By Now”

By Julia Norkus

This article was originally published on March 14, 2023. It was reuploaded on July 29, 2023 due to a technical error.

Berklee artist Jessica Woodlee is no stranger to the spotlight, having performed in musicals since the age of two. Growing up in New Jersey, countless performances around the state and in New York City solidified her passion for the art that would later become her life.

“It was always music, day one,” said Woodlee. “I feel like that’s what I was put on this planet to do.”

As work opportunities in theater and TV dried up, Woodlee discovered a new performance passion — writing and playing guitar. Gigging around New Jersey, Woodlee formed her first band at 13 and performed at numerous coffee shops all over the state, completing her “10,000 hours” of practice in the form of playing back up for others or performing by herself for four hours non-stop.

“Playing to an audience that does not care about you is the hardest thing in the world, so I think that really built my stamina as an artist.”

After her first EP release at 14, Woodlee has since released seven tracks professionally, including her March 10 release “By Now.” 

“A lot of my artist projects, they’re all very autobiographical. So they come from a state of emotion.”

“By Now” was written on Woodlee’s eighteenth birthday, but was released when she was 20. The feeling of it being too late to release now that she was no longer 18 and worries regarding how it would be received were both obstacles in the decision of whether or not to share the song with the world. 

“I was about to turn 20 and I was like, ‘You know what, why does this song still resonate? And even more so than the day I wrote it.’”

The single encapsulates the struggles of growing up, the ache of nostalgia for being small and the lack of responsibility that once was ours. Lyrics like, “Thought I’d know what this life’s about / And I’ve been waiting in anticipation / Thought by now I’d have figured this thing out,” embody the tumult of navigating adulthood and feeling lost in finding one’s own way. 

It’s an ode to being lost, a gentle reminder and equally a lamentation about not having it all together, which no one in their 20s does. It’s an honest reminder that we don’t need to know what we want or where we’re going, the important part is that we enjoy the ride while it’s here.

“I think it might be able to help some people, to know that you’re not alone in those feelings. It’s shit, but we’re in this together.”