 According to the song's official sheet music published by TCF Music Publishing, Inc. on Musicnotes.com, "Journey to the Past is a pop ballad played in cut time in the key of C major at a "moderate" speed of 84 beats per minute.Ahrens refers to the song's "twinkly opening bars" as the "shimmer".Author David Metzer identified "Journey to the Past" as a power ballad in his book "The Ballad in American Popular Music