I’ve always taken ’The Wizard of Oz’ very seriously, you know. I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I’ve spent my entire life trying to get over it.

Garland frames The Wizard of Oz not as a children’s fantasy but as a lifelong emotional template: the “rainbow” stands for hope, transcendence, and the promise of a better place beyond present hardship. Saying she “believe[s] in the idea of the rainbow” affirms her attachment to that ideal, while “trying to get over it” adds a rueful, adult counterpoint—suggesting the cost of sustaining such hope in the face of disappointment, exploitation, or suffering. The line becomes a compressed self-portrait: the performer forever associated with an anthem of yearning (“Over the Rainbow”) acknowledging both the necessity of that yearning and the pain of living up to it.