Flugzeug aus Papier literally translates to "paper airplane". It's a poignant and evocative image that serves as the central metaphor for the song.
In the context of the lyrics, the paper airplane symbolizes a lost loved one, perhaps a child, who has
This is a quiet, aching song about losing someone and not being ready to let them go. The singer keeps reaching for closeness that isn't there anymore: holding a hand that's gone, hearing laughter that only plays in her head, lying in a bed that still smells like the person who used to be there.
The paper airplane is the song's central image. It's something small and fragile the person left behind, and it becomes a stand-in for them: it "still lies here" long after they've flown off. Watching someone "fly up high" and "just let go" reads as a gentle way of describing someone passing on, while the singer is left on the ground, unable to follow.
The middle of the song widens the loss into bigger, almost riddle-like lines: "I am the time that runs, I am the house that burns." These read like the voice of the person who's gone, or maybe grief itself speaking, asking who will hold the singer now that they can't.
By the end, the singer promises that someday, when the wind turns, she'll see this person again and be back in their arms. It's not really a hopeful ending, more a small comfort she tells herself to survive the missing.