“By Now” is a piano ballad about Will’s regret and disappointment about his career in the music industry. He sings about his false expectations of how widely he could have been known and how he coped with changes in his life.
[Verse 1]
I don't talk to anyone from high school
Cause I dropped out freshman year
Signed a record deal
Then made an album
No one's ever gonna hear
Now they've all graduated college
I've never left the studio
Memories of half my life are missing
I still haven't written anything you know
[Pre-Chorus]
But I'll keep breaking my own heart
Finding ways to make it out
I'm still not where I wanna be
So what more do you want from me?
[Chorus]
I should have been somebody
By now
I should have been somebody
By now
Not a damn thing has changed
Another year goes by
And no one knows my name
I should've been somebody
[Verse 2]
Since I was five I never stopped performing
Even when my dad got sick
I stayed behind, my family moved to Houston
One more fucking show I just couldn't miss
[Pre-Chorus]
I've sacrificed more than enough
And after everything I've done
I'm still not where I wanna be
So what more do you want from me?
[Chorus]
I should have been somebody
By now
I should have been somebody
By now
Not a damn thing's changed
Another year goes by
And no one knows my name
I should have been somebody
I could have been somebody
By Now was written by Emily Kocontes & Sam Creighton & Will Jay.
By Now was produced by Jeoff Harris.