After releasing records under the 'T. Rex' name since 1970, "Teenage Dream" was the first release to be credited to 'Marc Bolan and T. Rex' "Teenage Dream" was co-produced by Tony Visconti and Bolan, and featured Lonnie Jordan of War on piano. It was released as a single in February 1974, and spent five weeks in the UK top 40, peaking at number 13. Biographer Mark Paytress called it Bolan's "coming out record", saying that it was "so drenched in melodramatic resignation that it was less a lament than a lordly glimpse through the iron bars of an increasingly detached existence". The song was described by Allmusic as "a virtual mini-opera", with "soaring strings, wailing guitars, towering chorales, and a genuinely foreboding sense of drama". Ken Barnes of Rolling Stone, however, wrote in a 1974 article that the song "suffers from pointless, jumbled lyrics and self-conscious Dylan-styled intonations and drags on for far too long." Bolan himself regarded "Teenage Dream" as the best lyric he had written. It was also chosen by Bolan's former partner Gloria Jones as her favourite Bolan lyric. He wrote and recorded the song while on tour in the United States in August 1973. It was one of the last tracks written for the Zinc Alloy album and these sessions were the last time Bolan recorded with Visconti.

The original single and album releases end with a fade out at 5 minutes. Several more recent releases include an additional part that the band recorded in 1973, extending the song for another 45 seconds. This extended version was first released in the 1980s, when the Official Marc Bolan Fan Club had the albums originally released on the "T. Rex Wax Co." label – including "Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow" – reissued on the newly founded "Marc on Wax" label.

The song was released as a single in France and Germany with "Mad Donna" as the B-side. In Italy it was released with "Venus Loon" on the B-side. The Japanese single on the Odeon label featured "Satisfaction Pony" on the reverse.

In the US, "Teenage Dream" was included on the album Light of Love.

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