Tragically Hipsum

A javascript lorem ipsum library that generates text using song lyrics by The Tragically Hip.

Demo Page

Contents

• Credits
• Notes
• Adding the Library to a Project
• Using the Library
• Developer Stuff
• License

Credits

• All lyrics are by The Tragically Hip, and are copyrighted.
• Special thanks to A Museum After Dark for providing the lyrics.
• Library package template based off the work of Jason Sturges.
• Demo Page newspaper layout by Silke V.

Notes

• Currently only has lyrics for the classic studio releases. Bonus tracks may be added later.
• Similar lyrics with minor variations may be omitted.
• Find a type-o? Feel free to log an issue.
• Some funny punctuation may appear around quoted text, typicially a period after the quote.
  • E.g. You just said, "Oh, wow.".

Adding the Library to a Project

Via NPM

The library is hosted on NPM. Add it to your project.

$ npm install tragically-hipsum

Then import the library in your scripts and use it.

// "hip" can be switched to any name you please
import hip from 'tragically-hipsum';

console.log(hip.lines(2));

Local Files

You can host the library as files inside your project. Built javascript files can be found in the Releases section. Alternately, one can clone this repo and build themselves (npm run build). The result will be in the dist folder.

As ES Modules

// "hip" can be switched to any name you please
// "index.mjs" file can be renamed, its all good
import hip from 'path/to/index.mjs';

console.log(hip.lines(2));

As IIFE Global

<script src="path/to/index.iife.js"></script>

// the iife version will use "hip" as the global name of the library
console.log(hip.lines(2));

Via CDN

The library can be linked as a script from popular CDNs.

https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/index.iife.js
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/index.iife.js

[!TIP] This approach will pull all the lyrics down from the internet, and will be slowest (especially for local development).

<script src="https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/dist/index.iife.js"></script>

console.log(hip.lines(2));

Using the Library

Sentences

This will return a string consisting of a given number of song lines (selected randomly). A song line may contain more than one sentence.

lines(numLines: number): string 

Example: generate sentences using two song lines.

hip.lines(2);

// "It could put the dog out of a job. Coffee-coloured ice and peeling birch bark. The sound of rushing water in the dark."

Paragraphs

This will return an array of strings. Each string will contain a number of song lines (selected randomly) ranging between an upper and lower bound. If the upper or lower bounds are not provided (or set to 0), the global setting will be used (3 and 7 by default). See the Options section for changing the global upper and lower bounds.

para(numParagraphs: number, minLines: number = 0, maxLines: number = 0): Array<string> 

Example: generate two paragraphs ranging between 1 and 4 song lines.

hip.para(2, 1, 4);

// [ "The Golden Rim Motor Inn. Soft water and colour TV. I'll be the antlers and I'll be the elk.",
//   "You're a complex dune, I'm a cloud of octopus ink. Want to be your roaring floorboard. The curtain climbs over me every morning." ]

Titles

This will return a string of a given number of words. It will attempt to have the words read as a coherent unit and not stop mid-sentence. As an example, a three word result could give I don't understand, but will try to avoid I am the. Setting the strict parameter to false will allow mid-sentence fragments; this will result in a more performant method call.

title(numWords: number, strict: boolean = true): string 

Example: generate a five word title, and avoid sentence fragments.

hip.title(5);

// "Sharks don't attack the Irish"

Options

To allow lyrics that contain filthy cuss-words, set the clean option to false.

hip.clean = false;
hip.lines(1);

// "When you said don't wipe your asses with your sleeve."

To change the system default value for minimum and/or maximum lines in paragraph calls, set the pMinLines and pMaxLines options. This can save you from having to provide the same numbers as parameters on every call to para().

hip.pMinLines = 5;
hip.pMaxLines = 12;
hip.para(3); // this is now the equivalent of .para(3, 5, 12)

Developer Stuff

The following tasks are available:

• npm run build - Build production distributable (JS + types)
• npm run dev - Watch mode to detect changes (rebuilds dist/ and types)
• npm start - Vite dev server with HMR for local development
• npm run build:types - Build only TypeScript declarations

Output Formats

This template builds multiple distribution formats:

• ESM (dist/index.mjs) - Modern ES modules
• CommonJS (dist/index.cjs) - Node.js compatibility
• IIFE (dist/index.iife.js) - Browser global variable
• Types (dist/index.d.ts) - Bundled TypeScript declaration file

License

Given this is chock full of content that falls under copywrights, and I'm not a lawyer, I'm in no position to "license" anything.

Use it for filler in the your own projects. Fork and adjust if you want. Really suggest this doesn't get put into anything remotely commercial, eh.