The Hero’s Journey | The Road Back

1. Closer to Home – Grand Funk Railroad
   Fresh off The Reward, the hero feels a surge of peace and purpose. This track is a warm, hopeful reflection — a reminder of what matters and what waits at the end of the road.
2. Dog Days Are Over – Florence + The Machine
   The weight of past suffering lifts. It feels like the hard part’s over. There’s lightness, even joy, as if the hero might actually make it home unscarred.
3. Santa Monica – Everclear
   But the world outside the glow of The Reward is harsher. This is the gut check — realizing you can’t go back to what was. The hero confronts what they must leave behind.
4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day
   Isolation hits. The path ahead feels emptier than expected. Doubt creeps in as the hero marches on, still alone in many ways, wondering if the peace they felt was just a mirage.
5. Runaway Train – Soul Asylum
   The temptation to quit, to self-destruct, or take an easier way back. Old habits and ghosts reappear. This is the dark middle of The Road Back.
6. Hold On – Alabama Shakes
   A quiet, desperate plea to keep going. The hero’s strength falters, but something inside refuses to give in.
7. Survival – Eminem
   And then — defiance ignites. This track is pure fight mode. The hero remembers who they are, what they’ve overcome, and that no one gets to write their ending for them.
8. Fight Song – Rachel Platten
   Strength builds. No longer defensive, the hero actively claims their voice and power. The journey shifts from survival to intentional action.
9. Go Your Own Way
   The final severing of old attachments. This is the moment the hero says: I’ll write my own ending. No more looking back.
10. Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls
    Wisdom settles in. The hero understands that perfection was never the goal — it was about growth, about becoming. And in that messy clarity, peace emerges.
11. Into the Mystic – Van Morrison
    The Road Back isn’t quite done. The hero feels it: one final test is coming. Something waits in the distance — a storm, a reckoning. This track closes the playlist on a serene, knowing pause. The hero has reclaimed themselves… but the ultimate challenge looms.

This playlist carries you from The Reward’s glow into The Road Back’s grit, strength, and reclaimed agency — ending on a reflective, almost mystical note as The Resurrection waits around the corner. The journey home isn’t safe yet, but the hero is ready to face whatever comes.