I could be wrong (I've misplaced my CD case recently), but it seems to me this line is:
"How it precedes you like a black smoke pall"
A pall is "anything that covers, shrouds, or overspreads, esp. with darkness or gloom." That certainly fits with the context of these first couple of stanzas, and after listening to it several times, I'm pretty sure I hear "pall."
"How it precedes you like a black smoke, oh"
I could be wrong (I've misplaced my CD case recently), but it seems to me this line is: "How it precedes you like a black smoke pall"
A pall is "anything that covers, shrouds, or overspreads, esp. with darkness or gloom." That certainly fits with the context of these first couple of stanzas, and after listening to it several times, I'm pretty sure I hear "pall."