There is always a piece of paper in Bob Polding's car.

That's because when he hears a melody in his head, he has to pull over and write it down.

That, he says, is how he composed "Forever Free," his hit song in tribute to the troops.

"I had the melody in my head on River Road in North Arlington, no Lyndhurst. Actually, I had just taken my daughters to school at Sacred Heart. The song just poured out of me," he recalls, thinking back to late 2003.

To preserve it, Polding used a recorder on his cellphone.

"My mind was ahead of my pen. I couldn't write fast enough. I ripped an envelope from the visor. Once I was home, I picked up the guitar," he explains.

Polding says he writes songs for his band that stem from his life experiences. "Forever Free" is the exception.

"People were coming back injured or not coming back at all," he says. Polding says he was thinking of that just before the "Forever Free" melody sprung into his head, having heard the military death count from Iraq on an all-news radio station. The song is his way of paying tribute to the troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

"My wife is my biggest fan and best critic. When she says its good or you're on to something, she's usually right." His wife, Teresa, liked "Forever Free," and that prompted Polding to reunite his band.

By 2003, The Bob Polding Band, which Polding formed in 1991, had drifted apart. But "Forever Free" was the reason to bring everyone together again. Polding says he took the responsibility of booking and promoting the band as well as writing music.

Polding says he sent the song to Armed Forces Radio in Richmond, Va. "Once they listened to it, they put it on the rotation. It's been heard worldwide by the troops for a year. It was done for the military, and I gave it to the military," he says.

Last year on Armed Forces Day, May 21, Polding and his group performed "Forever Free" at halftime of a MetroStars game at Giants Stadium. The team, now known as the Red Bulls, had them back to sing the song again this year at halftime of its July 22 game, and the band is scheduled to make a return appearance on Sept. 16, according to its Web site (www.thebobpoldingband.com).

The band also performed "Forever Free" July 2 before a reported crowd of 15,000 in Benbrook, Texas, at the "Wounded Warriors, Fallen Heroes" rally honoring the troops. The gathering, described by its organizers as "a non-political event," was dedicated to the service men and women from all branches of the U.S. military who risk their lives everyday to preserve freedoms often taken for granted.

The song "Forever Free" has had a profound effect both on both Polding and his band.

"This song spring boarded me and the whole band to the next level," he says. The song elevated the group from a bar band to one that has played at the Meadowlands, at Giants Stadium and in Atlantic City. Although he would like to be signed by a recording company, Polding, 41, says he is satisfied with what he has achieved from unlikely musical beginnings. His music can be purchased on a CD through his band's Web site.

He says although music has always been part of his life, until now, it remained a sideline.

Polding, a native of Harrison, studied guitar briefly with his brother and taught himself to play piano. However, after high school, he says, he headed straight for the docks and started working unloading cargo at Port Newark. He worked in shipyards for 11 years but switched to the telecommunications field when his first daughter was born in 1993. He says he found telecommunications to be a more suitable career for a family man. Polding learned how to build communications towers and find sites for antennas on buildings. That led to selling modular buildings to Verizon, Singular, Sprint and other communications companies to hold the equipment needed for transmission.

The original members of Polding's band are fellow dockworkers Mike Delikat and Steve Klein, while the newcomers are John Forsdahl and Jason Vega. The band's major financial supporter is Polding's brother-in-law, Gary Lawlette of Clifton, who is married to Polding's sister, Eileen.

"He just saw something in the music," Polding says. "The better the product became, the songs just came together and clicked. He has always supported us."

Polding says the group has a soulful sound and relies on meaningful lyrics. It has created its own blend of acoustic and straight ahead rock-and-roll.

With "Forever Free," the band is attracting a whole new audience. "Wives, mothers and comrades of fallen soldiers have been calling and sending e-mails thanking us for writing the song," Polding says in a statement on his Web site. "I'm deeply moved by their sincerity, but the soldiers and their families deserve all the thanks in the world."

In the past year, the band has played seven times at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, where Bruce Springsteen got his start with the E Street Band. Polding says he's flattered when he is compared to Springsteen.

Polding has also appeared on the popular Jersey Guys talk show on WKXW-FM (101.5) to promote his song and talk about how it can be used to raise funds for military charities.

Polding says he would like to work with the Jersey Boys, Craig Carton and Ray Rossi, to hold a major rally in New Jersey to honor the troops.

"I'm on a personal crusade now. I've seen it first hand," Polding says of the military tributes where he has been featured in Pennsylvania and Texas.

"We have to select a venue and get the troops here," he says about planning a major event. He says if he can get an event started, some people he met in Texas have said they will assist.

"This has turned into something I never thought it would be," he says.

Reach Diane Haines at 973- 569-7046 or haines@northjersey.com.