According to the sheet music published by Warner/Chappell Music, "Dear Jessie" is written in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. Normally written in 4⁄4, the song has a change in time signature after the second chorus, changing it to 3⁄4. It is composed in the key of D major, with Madonna's voice ranging from C3 to D5. The song's chord progression follows a sequence of Bm–A–Bm–D–A in the verses and changes to D–Bm–G–A–D in the chorus.