 Once final arrangements were made for Aaliyah to record a pop rendition "Journey to the Past", the songwriters wanted to personalize the song to better suit the singer's "unique vocal style", agreeing to change some of its lyrics and tailor the melody to her voice.Ahrens and Flaherty then approved Roche's "contemporary pop" arrangement of their song.Aaliyah and Roche recorded the song in Toronto, Ontario to accommodate the singer's schedule due to her careering being "on the up" at the time; the producer joked that it seemed as though the singer had always "just gotten off a plane" before heading to the studio to record the song amidst being interrupted for interviews before finally boarding another plane, every time they collaborated.